A lot of students approach Brown assuming it’s simply “An Ivy, but artsier.” Not quite! Brown’s admissions process rewards students who demonstrate genuine academic curiosity and self-direction, not just students who stacked their resumes with prestige-heavy activities. The challenge, of course, is that tons of students who apply to Brown are already extremely accomplished. So how does Brown actually decide who gets in? Let’s break it down!

Who Actually Gets Into Brown?

Before we get into essays, extracurriculars, and institutional priorities, we need to address the obvious: Brown is still an Ivy League school with extremely high academic expectations. There is no version of a competitive Brown applicant that is casually coasting through high school with mediocre academics. That’s not how this works.

The numbers are intense. Last cycle, Brown admitted only a tiny percentage of applicants (5.39%), and the overwhelming majority of accepted students were near the top of their graduating class. Based on Brown’s published data, students are seeing standardized testing numbers in the 1500+ SAT or 34–36 ACT range to be academically competitive. Even then, those numbers are usually just the starting point.

Brown receives thousands upon thousands of applicants with near-perfect grades, rigorous coursework, and elite test scores. Once you hit that threshold, admissions becomes much more about distinction, so what separates you from every other student with a 4.0 and a research internship?

Brown tends to value students who have built thoughtful, authentic academic and extracurricular identities. They like students who seem genuinely engaged with ideas, not just students trying to collect accomplishments like Pokémon cards.

What Does Brown Really Want to See?

One of the biggest misconceptions about Brown (and the Ivies in general) is that they’re looking for “well-rounded” students. In reality, Brown gravitates toward students who care deeply about something and pursue an interest because they are genuinely fascinated by it, not just because it looks “good” on an application.

Imagine two applicants with essentially identical grades and scores applying as prospective history majors.

Student 1 has done a little bit of everything: student government, multiple varsity sports, community service clubs, generic humanities summer programs, a variety of club leadership titles, NHS, etc., etc. They have an unweighted 4.0, tons of APs, and a 1560 on the SAT. The whole package. Very accomplished. Very impressive. Also… somewhat interchangeable.

Student 2, meanwhile, has spent years exploring one specific area within history, and narrowed down their focus from just “American History” to “America’s Involvement in Vietnam.” After taking a Vietnam War history course at a pre-college program, they started an independent research project on the impact of media coverage of Vietnam. They started a YouTube channel where they interviewed Vietnam War Veterans, volunteered at a local history museum, and made a short documentary about the war’s impact on their hometown. They spent two consecutive summers working with a professor, successfully lobbied to add a Vietnam History course as an elective at school, and they also had an unweighted 4.0, tons of APs, and a 1560 on the SAT.

Shocker – Brown will usually find Student 2 more compelling.

Why? Because Brown values intellectual engagement that feels real. They want students who pursue ideas outside the classroom simply because they want to understand them better. Not students who appear to be reverse-engineering their personality and resume around college admissions.

This passion will also show up in recommendation letters. Brown tends to respond strongly to students whose teachers describe them as curious contributors to the classroom environment: students who ask unusual questions, initiate conversations, or genuinely love learning for learning’s sake. That might sound cliché – until you realize Brown’s entire academic culture is kind of built around that concept.

How Does Brown’s Open Curriculum Impact Admissions?

One thing that makes Brown fundamentally different from many of its peer schools is the Open Curriculum. Unlike most colleges, Brown does not have general education requirements, and students largely design their own academic experience. No mandatory core classes, no “everyone has to take this science class” energy, and no freshman writing seminars. Students are expected to take ownership of their education from day one. Which, of course, means Brown has to admit students who can actually handle that freedom.

The Open Curriculum works beautifully for students who are intrinsically motivated and excited about exploration. It works far less well for students who need heavy external structure in order to engage academically. Brown knows this, which is why they pay close attention to evidence of self-direction throughout an application – hence Student 2's advantage.

Students who thrive at Brown often demonstrate intellectual initiative long before college. They independently explore niche academic interests, pursue interdisciplinary projects, start creative ventures, or connect ideas across different fields in unusual ways. Brown loves students who seem to have already embraced their ideology through their applications.

How Does Brown Decide Who Gets in?

Unfortunately, there is no perfectly simple and transparent formula. There aren’t for any Ivies, but we do know that like most schools, they make decisions as a committee. According to an article in from February 2026, here are some things Brown Admission officers care about:

Prospective students frequently ask Berman what makes someone a strong applicant to Brown, but there is no single quality in every successful admit, he said.

“Frankly, I think Brown would be a boring place if we were looking for one set of criteria from each applicant,” Berman said. But the admissions office hopes to “set students up to be academically successful at Brown,” so they try to admit students who will be able to handle the rigorous course load, he added.

Admissions officers also look for students who are engaged with their communities and will get involved with the Brown community in a variety of disciplines, from performing arts to athletics to comedy, Berman said.

Another key aspect the admissions committee considers is how prospective students will fit in with Brown’s Open Curriculum, and excel with “flexibility and choice,” Berman added.

Like most elite colleges, Brown uses a holistic admissions process, meaning they evaluate students across multiple categories at once rather than plugging numbers into some magical admissions spreadsheet. Academics matter enormously, your essays matter enormously, activities matter enormously, recommendations matter enormously, and even the video introduction they use matters enormously. However, institutional priorities matter too.

What we do know is that Brown tends to value applicants who feel multidimensional but grounded. Students with strong academic voices, who contribute positive energy to a campus community, and who seem likely to actually use Brown’s flexibility in interesting ways.

How Can I Get into Brown?

A lot of students think getting into Brown is about appearing quirky – it’s not. Brown does not need manufactured ~quirky~. What Brown actually wants is intellectual authenticity.

That means your application should demonstrate genuine curiosity, thoughtful engagement, and a clear sense of who you are, both academically and personally. The strongest Brown applicants usually have a clear throughline connecting their interests, activities, coursework, and essays, and their applications feel cohesive without being overly polished or artificial.

Another important piece of the puzzle is the application essays. Brown’s prompts are designed to reveal how you think, not just what you’ve accomplished. They want students who will genuinely take advantage of the Open Curriculum and contribute to Brown’s collaborative campus culture. Unfortunately, this is also where many applicants accidentally sabotage themselves. They try too hard to sound “smart.” The essays become stiff, overly formal, and exhausting to read. Brown already knows you’re academically capable from your transcript. What they’re trying to figure out is who you are.

One thing we consistently see among successful Brown applicants is intentionality over time. Their applications tell a story! And realistically, most students benefit from guidance while doing this.

Applying to schools like Brown often requires long-term strategic planning around academics, extracurricular development, summer opportunities, essays, and positioning within an increasingly competitive applicant pool. A strong private college counselor cannot magically “get” someone into Brown, but experienced guidance can absolutely help students clarify their strengths, identify meaningful opportunities, avoid common mistakes, and build a far more cohesive application narrative over time.

At the end of the day, there is no guaranteed formula for Brown admissions. But as we’ve discussed, the strongest applicants usually share several traits: exceptional academics, clear intellectual interests, meaningful extracurricular depth, self-direction, and essays that sound like they were written by an actual human being instead of a LinkedIn profile.

How Can TKG Help?

At The �鶹ԭ��, we help students build applications that feel intentional, differentiated, and strategically aligned with what highly selective colleges are actually looking for. Because, contrary to popular belief, strong applications rarely come together accidentally.

We work one-on-one with students to identify genuine areas of academic and extracurricular interest, then help them develop those interests into compelling long-term narratives throughout high school. That might mean refining a broad interest into a more specific academic niche, helping students identify meaningful summer programs or research opportunities, brainstorming independent projects, strengthening leadership initiatives, or shaping an activities profile that tells a clearer and more cohesive story.

We also help students navigate the parts of the process that are often hardest to manage on their own: Common App essay brainstorming and editing, supplemental essay strategy, interview preparation, HS course selection, testing strategy, and building balanced school lists. Throughout the process, our goal is never to manufacture some fake “Brown applicant,” that approach usually backfires. Instead, we help students present the strongest, clearest, and most authentic version of themselves possible.

Conclusion

Brown admissions is competitive because Brown is trying to build a very particular kind of class. They are not simply admitting students with the highest numbers. They are admitting students who seem intellectually alive, ones who will take advantage of the freedom, flexibility, and collaborative energy that define Brown’s campus culture.

The students who stand out at Brown are usually not the ones joining random clubs purely for resume padding. Their applications evolve naturally over time around real interests and genuine curiosity. Even when their path is still developing, there’s intentionality behind it.

Understanding what Brown actually values can help you position yourself much more effectively. The goal is not to reinvent yourself for college admissions. It’s to build and present the strongest, clearest, and most compelling version of who you already are.

Need help getting into a Top 20 school? Reach out to us today.

Cornell’s undergraduate program is made up of eight colleges ranging from the College of Arts and Sciences to the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Some of these schools are much bigger (CAS, especially) than others, and some are more competitive admissions-wise. Cornell doesn’t break out their admissions data, though, so the stats we have are limited. For the Class of 2029, Cornell received over 72,000 applications for all of their undergraduate colleges combined, and accepted only 6,077 students, or . The most recent year, for the Class of 2030, Cornell accepted students, but the acceptance rate has not been released.

Today, Cornell doesn’t just accept a smaller percentage of applicants than they did in the past — they actually accept a smaller number of students. As Cornell has become more sought after, the yield rate has gone up. That means they don’t need to accept as many students to fill the class. Whereas in 2000 the yield rate was 48%, today it is  

Like all top schools, and especially those in the Ivy League, that acceptance rate doesn’t tell you the full picture. It includes athletes and faculty children who knew they were getting in before even submitting. It also includes legacies and in-state applicants, who have a significant advantage for certain academic programs as Cornell is a university.

What Are My Application Options?

Cornell offers both Regular Decision and binding Early Decision application options. Over the past decade, the Early Decision route has played a massive role in the Cornell admissions process. For the Class of 2026, ED applicants were three times as likely to be admitted than their RD compatriots. This is not unique to Cornell among Ivy League and Ivy Adjacent schools. Cornell was regularly admitting a third of their first-year class ED, with Brown and Dartmouth doing the same.

Even as Cornell has aimed their focus on Early Decision applicants, the stats hold quite strong. ED maintains a hold on the admissions office, and is the best way in for strong applicants — and especially those with a legacy connection, or other edge.

We help students develop their greatest strengths and turn them into top-tier acceptances. Learn more here.

Why Should I Apply Early Decision To Cornell?

Choosing to apply Early Decision should be a strategy move, not an emotional one. As a strong candidate for Cornell, applying ED gives you the most significant advantage in the admissions process that you have access to, especially when working on a tighter timeline. If you aren’t a strong candidate for Cornell, though, applying Early Decision doesn’t make you one. 

This is why starting early on your college process is so important. The applications may not be live until August before your senior year, but the building blocks can be put in place long before that. We start working with students as early as Freshman year.

So, yes, you should apply ED to Cornell if it is your dream school. But there is a lot of work to do before applying to make sure your application packs a punch.  

What Can You Do?

Each college application is made up of the same components. The difference between a strong application to Cornell and a week one, then, is in the details. Whether you have weeks, months, or years before pressing submit, there are actions you can start taking today to strengthen your application. More time is better, of course, but don’t let having less time discourage you from taking bold steps towards a Cornell acceptance.

Grades

For Cornell, exceptional grades are the baseline for admission. For the Class of 2029, of enrolling students were in the top 10% of their graduating class (of those whose schools submitted class rank). Simply being good at getting high grades isn’t enough, though.

Cornell wants to see you getting the highest grades possible in the hardest classes you have access to. Low grades are never okay, but the level of specialization they allow for varies based on what college you are applying to. If you are applying to the College of Arts and Sciences, Cornell wants to see exceptional grades in the hardest classes across the arts and the sciences.  

Just because you want to study science doesn’t allow for a soft language grade. If you are applying to the College of Human Ecology, though, which is a hyper-specialized program, they are more likely to be flexible if you don’t take a language AP.

Scores

Cornell is joining most of the rest of the Ivy League in their testing requirements for the 2025-2026 application cycle. What this means is that the numbers between 2019 and 2025 are likely skewed. The only students who submitted scores, during that time, were those with super high scores. This resulted in a warped idea of what works for Cornell. For example, only about 60% of first-year students enrolling in the submitted SAT or ACT scores. The 50th percentile SAT was a 1510 and the ACT was a 34. If we look , though, when the SAT or ACT were required, the 50th percentile SAT for the Class of 2020 was a 1450, while the ACT was a 33. Other metrics, like class rank, remained constant. 

This isn’t us telling you not to study hard for the SAT or ACT. Indeed, it’s quite the opposite. Moreso than in recent years, a top SAT or ACT score, say a 1550 or 35, will stand out. It will do exactly what we need it to, which is to underline your academic excellence.

Extracurriculars

Cornell likes students who like doing things. That may sound silly, but hear us out. Cornell wants to read applications that show passion, enthusiasm, and drive. They don’t have a set list of activities that they expect to see from you. Rather, they want to see you doing something that truly fuels you and that raises those around you, too.  

Aim to attain a leadership role in at least one community-minded activity and one academic-focused activity by Junior year. This can be tough, as most schools prioritize making seniors heads and captains. But it is important.

You’ll be applying to Cornell in the fall of your senior year, remember, and it’s important to have stories from your leadership experiences to write about. It is hard to accumulate those stories in the rush from senior year starting to November deadlines. So, work for leadership roles by junior year. This may mean investing in clubs that are less popular, such that there is less competition for the leadership roles. Cornell doesn’t know that it isn’t the coolest club on campus. All that matters is that you pursue it with dedication and passion, lead it with confidence, and transition as a senior towards a mentorship role.

Essays

Those leadership roles you cultivated in your activities will truly shine in your essays. The activities section is important, yes, but you only have a tiny amount of space to highlight things that are very important to you. In the essays, you get to actually tell the story of your experiences and how they have shaped your passions.  

The key to compelling essays is the pairing of experiences developed over years and narrative-forward writing that brings those experiences to life. We work with our students to build the writing skills necessary to tell stories that resonate deeply with application readers. It’s not about a few essays, though. Rather, we strive to develop writing skills that a student will carry with them into college and beyond. It’s remarkable how many of our students end up with writing as a passion, when often they started nervous to put pen to proverbial paper.

Apply Early

The last step of your Early Decision process for Cornell is to actually press submit. This is the simple part, but it may be the most emotionally weighty. You’ve done the work, you’ve put in the time, and now you need to send your application out into the world and see what happens.  

As an Early Decision applicant to Cornell, there are . You can get in — yay! You can be rejected — boooo! Or your application can be “postponed,” which is called a deferral. This means that they will reassess your application in the Regular Decision pool. If this is the case, you are released from the Early Decision agreement and there are opportunities to strengthen your application before it is reviewed again. These include submitting updated grades, writing a Letter of Continued Interest, and seeking out other opportunities to stand out without becoming a bee in admissions bonnet. Translation: annoying.

Whatever the outcome, Early Decision does offer your strongest chance of acceptance to Cornell. If you want to be in Ithaca, ED is the way to go.

Getting into an Ivy is an art. We’ve perfected it. Contact us to Learn more.

If you want to apply to Harvard, you’re (hopefully) well-aware of their significance and the challenges you’ll need to undertake to become a truly competitive applicant. We’re going to cover the kinds of students Harvard lets in, the things those applicants do to set themselves apart from the crowd, and hopefully answer some questions you might have about how the deciding actually gets, well, decided.

Who Actually Gets Into Harvard?

Let’s talk objective facts first: Harvard expects academic excellence from its applicants. We recently did a deep dive into last year's admissions statistics, which you can check out here. While we have some condensed info for you in this post, if you’re serious about Harvard and want to understand their academic standards in depth, we recommend you give it a read.

Last cycle, Harvard had a 3.6% acceptance rate, one of the lowest in the game. Based on their middle 50 data, we think it's fair to say that a 1550+ and/or a 35+ on your standardized tests are next to mandatory, and 94.61% of admitted students had a GPA above 3.75, with 70%+ of those having at least a perfect 4.0. Understanding these academic standards is crucial as you go forth on this journey.

However, grades and scores aren’t the only thing that makes someone a shoo-in for Harvard. Countless students have perfect GPAs and excellent scores, probably way more than there are open spots in all the Ivies combined. Robust extracurriculars are going to be more crucial than ever here, and students who build extensive, comprehensive, and focused activities are going to find a lot more success than other applicants. 

What Does Harvard Really Want to See?

So, we know you need the best grades and scores possible, and we know you need good extracurriculars, but how do you actually build that kind of profile out? Once you meet their academic standards, you have to do a lot to differentiate yourself from everyone else who meets the academic standards. That’s why extracurriculars are so important.

Let’s discuss two students with identical grades and scores who are both applying to study biology:

Student 1:

• Student council all four years of HS; currently student body president

• Four-year varsity athlete in three sports; team captain

• Member of a variety of service organizations at school; over 100 hrs of community service

• Two years of science summer programs at Harvard; not specialized

• Internship at a local business; not biology related

• Works a paid summer job

Student 2:

• Founded Bioethics Club at their HS

• Conducted and published independent research on medical ethics

• Volunteered at a hospital for two years

• Interned at a medtech company

• Participated in a bioethics summer pre-college program

• Helps with family responsibilities  

Obviously, both students are accomplished, but one stands out more to Harvard – and that’s student 2. While many of the things are solid about student 1, their activities don’t scream “I HAVE A PATH!!” Student 2, on the other hand, is not just interested in bio, but has found a niche in bioethics and has taken steps to pursue this interest outside of school.

How Does Harvard Decide Who Gets in?

When we said Harvard’s admissions policies are a black box, we mean it. There are very few resources out there that speak specifically to how they do it, but we know that admissions look similar across elite colleges. For a look into how decisions are made behind closed doors, take this video from Bloomberg, covering Amherst’s admissions committee.

It’s important to note that every college has a different set of institutional priorities, including Harvard. And those priorities can change from year to year, or even month to month! They might be inspired by internal policy changes or external policy directives from the government, or it could just be about what vibes they’re trying to curate.

What we do know about Harvard, though, is that they are looking for the best of the best. They want to see students who are "pointy,” and they don't necessarily care about well-roundedness. They want to see excellent grades, robust activities, and exceptional recommendation letters, but they also want to see students who are, for lack of a better word, kind of… normal? Not normal as in average, because Harvard doesn’t let average students in, but students who will bring good energy to their campus and defy the stereotype of what some people might think the traditional Harvard student would look like. That might look like working a paid job at the grocery store on weekends, having family responsibilities to attend to, or spending a lot of time on one community service action that actually gives back to your community.

How Can I Get into Harvard?

Besides grades and scores, depth matters so much throughout your application. Harvard doesn’t expect you to cure cancer at 17 years old, but they do want to see evidence that you care deeply about something and pursued it intentionally. That could be academic research, political organizing, filmmaking, robotics, creative writing, entrepreneurship, or countless other paths. The specific activity matters less than the level of commitment, initiative, and impact behind it.

And remember how we said Harvard is also trying to find “normal” students to let in? One of the ways we can tell that is by looking at their essay questions. Harvard’s supplemental essays are surprisingly open-ended. They don’t need to hear about your accomplishments or what clubs you joined; they’re trying to understand how you think, what matters to you, and what kind of person you’d be on campus. Harvard already knows you’re smart from your transcript. The essays are where they figure out whether you’re interesting.

That’s why one of the biggest mistakes applicants make is trying to sound “Harvard-worthy.” Students often become overly formal, robotic, or obsessed with proving how impressive they are. Ironically, that usually has the opposite effect. Harvard reads applications from some of the most accomplished students in the world every year. They don’t need more perfection! They want personality!

One thing we’ve seen consistently with successful Harvard applicants is that they rarely navigate this process entirely alone. The reality is that applying to a school this competitive often requires an enormous amount of long-term planning and strategic decision-making, especially when it comes to extracurricular development, summer opportunities, course selection, and essays. That’s one reason many families choose to work with a private college counselor. A strong counselor doesn’t “manufacture” a student or magically get someone into Harvard, but they can help students identify their strengths earlier, build a more cohesive application narrative, avoid common mistakes, and stay accountable throughout the process. At schools where thousands of applicants may have nearly identical grades and scores, the difference often comes down to how clearly and intentionally a student presents themselves, and having experienced guidance can make that process much more effective.

At the end of the day, there’s no magic formula for getting into Harvard. If there were, everyone would do it. But the strongest applicants usually have a few things in common: exceptional academics, a clear sense of direction, meaningful extracurricular depth, and essays that make them feel like a real person rather than a resume.

How Can TKG Help?

Students need guidance on how to strategically build an application that feels cohesive, intentional, and genuinely differentiated over the course of several years, because when your family goes it alone, it can feel daunting. Thankfully, that’s where we come in.

At The �鶹ԭ��, we work one-on-one with students to help them identify and develop the kinds of academic and extracurricular profiles highly selective colleges are actually looking for, and ones that genuinely interest them. That can mean helping a student refine a niche interest into a meaningful long-term “point,” identifying summer programs and research opportunities that actually fit with their resume, helping brainstorm clubs or initiatives for their school, and generally building an activities list that tells a clearer story about who they are and what they care about. Through this system, we help students move from something broad, like biology, to something more narrow, like bioethics, all while building a solid trail of evidence throughout the years.

We also help students navigate the parts of the application process that are often the hardest to do alone. That includes brainstorming and editing the Common App essay, developing supplemental essays that sound personal rather than overly polished, preparing for interviews, planning high school coursework, and making smart strategic decisions about testing and school lists. Throughout the process, our goal is never to turn students into a manufactured version of what we think Harvard wants. Instead, we help students present the strongest, clearest, and most compelling version of themselves possible.

Conclusion

Strategy matters so much early in high school. The students who tend to stand out aren’t randomly joining activities just to pad their resumes. Their application tells a story, showing that they’re building toward something over time, even if that story is still evolving.

Understanding what Harvard values can help you position yourself more effectively – not just for Harvard, but for other highly selective colleges as well. The goal isn’t to become a different person for admissions. It’s to present the strongest, clearest, and most intentional version of yourself possible.

Need help getting into a Top 20 school? Reach out to us today.

The 2024-2025 application cycle was noted as the “most selective year on record,” and the number of applications — particularly in the Early Decision round — has slightly decreased since. But only slightly. That year, they received 72,544 applications for Class of 2029, 3,530 accepted, and the class clocked in at students. To achieve a yield rate of nearly 70%, Penn leans heavily on their Early Decision program.

What Are My Application Options?

Penn offers two avenues to admission, Early Decision or Regular Decision. Early Decision (ED) is, as it sounds, early. It’s also binding, so if you get in you have to go.

If you don’t want to be locked in to attending Penn, you can apply Regular Decision (RD) which is regular. You submit your application in January instead of in November, and are not subject to a commitment to attend if accepted. For most strong applicants to Penn, the gap between November and January is not important. They have the grades and scores, they have the extracurriculars and leadership, and if something big like winning an award happens after submitting, they can always send an update.

Applying ED provides real statistical advantages that makes it the best choice for strong applicants set on Penn. Submitting your application early won’t make up for weak spots in your application, but it can underline strengths. In this post, we will break down what you need to do in preparation for applying to Penn Early Decision to give you the best odds of admission.

Getting into the Ivy League isn’t easy. We make it simple. Learn how here.

Why Should I Apply Early Decision To Penn?

It’s a fair question to ask. Everyone says ED is the best way to get in, but why — really — should you apply ED to Penn? The numbers that Penn makes available, after all, are imprecise estimates at best. Penn withhold detailed admissions statistics ever since 2022, after all.

And yet, we know that of the first-year class is admitted in the Early Decision round. That’s a lot of seats dedicated to an application pool that accounts for 20% or less than the total number of first-year applications they receive in a given year.  

Penn students have even for not applying Early Decision to Penn, and instead applying RD. According to their math, the ED acceptance rate for the Class of 2028 was about 14% (this is not an official number, fyi). When you account for recruited athletes, which eats up about 20% of the ED pool, the odds of getting in as a non-athlete drop drastically. Plenty of seats left, though, right?

Then another big chunk, about a quarter of the ED acceptances, is taken up by legacies. If you are a legacy, applying Early Decision is really your only option to get a boost in the admissions process from that legacy connection.

of students in the Class of 2029 are legacies. If either of your parents attended Penn (or both) the best legacy advantage comes in the ED round. If you choose not to apply ED, the legacy doesn’t give you nearly as much of a boost. But if you aren’t an athlete and you aren’t a legacy, you aren’t from a Philadelphia public school or a child of Penn faculty, they argue that the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.

We won’t argue with their logic around how certain groups benefit more from ED than others (like legacies), because that is true, but we disagree with the premise that this means ED isn’t worth it. Rather, that small benefit that applying ED provides to committed applicants who don’t have other structural advantages is massively important. Every advantage matters, and ED is your best opportunity for calling Penn home.

What Can You Do?

As you prepare to apply Early Decision to Penn, the earlier you can start the better. Yes, applications go online late in the summer, but what you will be putting on those applications needs to be built over years. We start working with students as early as freshman year, and begin targeting specific schools for ED as early as sophomore year. Their vision can shift during high school, of course, but having a clear goal is critical to achieving the statistically improbable.

Grades

Penn expects your grades to be excellent. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, and you ������’t bet on the senior fall to provide the ‘fix’ to something that went awry junior year. As an ED applicant, you won’t have final senior fall grades to submit, but even if you did that wouldn’t erase the weaker score in the recent past.

Ultimately, students who get into Penn are of their class and have built a record of high-level performance throughout their high school career. They thrive in the hardest classes they have access to, including in subject areas that are not their focus for the future. Science kids need As in English, and vice versa.  

Scores

For Penn, the required standardized test scores — ACT or SAT — serve to underline a strong application. High schools are not standardized, so application reviewers know that what might be a B at one school could be an A at another. The SAT and ACT help to even things out, showing strong mastery on a test that is ostensibly an equalizer.

Penn the testing requirement with the 2025-2026 application round, following a period of test-optionality related to covid. The most recently available SAT ERW range for accepted and enrolled students in the Class of 2029 was 740-770. The range for accepted and enrolled students in the Math section was 770-800. We challenge our students to aim for an overall SAT of 1540+ or an overall ACT of 35+. Of course, you don’t need those scores to successfully apply to Penn, as many students get in with test scores that are a little lower (not much lower, though), but it certainly helps if you do.

Extracurriculars

Successful Penn applicants do more than get straight As. Students actively cultivate community, engage with culture, and show a dedication to community service throughout their high school experience. It isn’t just about junior or senior year, your engagement should be something that builds over years of work such that you gain a significant leadership role in at least two non-athletic clubs, teams, or groups. Importantly, you need those leadership roles before senior year.

Since you’ll be submitting your application early in senior year, you won’t have much time as a senior to get things done that are worth writing about. So, you need to start earlier such that you have cool successes to write about. Senior year, you’ll still have the leadership roles and be able to focus on mentorship and legacy, two more things that Penn loves to see on your application.

Essays

All of this work, the activities, the grades, and the knowledge you’ve been building on Penn comes most powerfully into play in one place: the essays. The essays are where you get to tell your story, contextualizing your successes and exploring moments of growth through challenge.

The most common mistake we see with the Penn essays is focusing too much on accomplishments, such that you as an individual become flat or even (and worse) unlikeable. The essays aren’t a contest in who can sound fanciest. It is critically important that you take off whatever ego armor you are wearing when writing and be honest and vulnerable. You also need to dream. Penn wants to see how they can help you build towards where you want to be, and if you present yourself as already at your peak that isn’t all that interesting for them. 

We love when we get to start writing essays with our rising seniors because it’s where all the hard work they have been putting in really shines. Strong essays can make an application, and we know all the secrets to pulling it off.

Apply Early

It shouldn’t surprise you that the last step is to actually press submit. It’s normal to get nervous and to second-guess yourself. Ultimately, you need to trust that you’ve done the work and have built an application that Penn will be excited to say “yes” to. You just need to press submit.

When we work with students, we love to start early so that we can guide them towards their strongest application possible. That doesn’t mean that a stellar application ������’t be crafted in the eleventh hour if you’ve been putting the work in — even if Penn wasn’t the goal, yet. Get in touch to learn how we help students pull off exceptional acceptances, whether they have years, months, or even just days before the application deadline.

We help strong students get into outstanding schools. Contact us to Learn more.

As the number of options has expanded, so has the difficulty of evaluating them. To clarify this landscape, the following rankings are based on a weighted evaluation model that assesses advising quality across multiple dimensions. These include personalization, scope of services, counselor experience, leadership background, and overall client satisfaction.

The Top College Counseling Firms in New York City – 2026

Methodology: How We Evaluated These Firms

To compare firms in a more consistent and research-oriented way, we developed a weighted evaluation model designed to assess the quality, depth, and overall effectiveness of private college admissions consulting. Rather than relying solely on visibility or reputation, this methodology evaluates firms across several operational and strategic dimensions that directly shape the student experience. Each organization received a composite score based on performance across these categories, allowing for a more structured comparison between firms with very different advising styles and business models.

Personalization of Advising Model evaluates how individualized the advising experience is for each student. Firms that maintain lower student-to-counselor ratios and emphasize customized application strategies generally scored highest. We also considered how effectively advisors tailor recommendations to a student’s academic strengths, extracurricular profile, intellectual interests, and long-term goals. Personalized advising often correlates strongly with stronger narrative development and more cohesive applications, particularly at highly selective universities where differentiation matters significantly.

Scope of Advising Services measures the comprehensiveness of a firm’s offerings across the admissions process. Higher scores were awarded to firms that provided support across multiple areas, including academic planning, extracurricular strategy, college list development, essay guidance, interview preparation, and final application review. Firms offering only narrow or highly specialized services tended to score lower in this category, even when those services were well executed.

Counselor Admissions Experience assesses the depth and relevance of counselor backgrounds. Factors considered included prior admissions office experience, educational consulting expertise, essay mentorship, and broader strategic advising experience. Firms with counselors who demonstrated substantial familiarity with selective admissions processes generally scored more favorably, particularly when that expertise translated into a clearly defined advising methodology.

Founder Leadership Experience Score acts as a proxy for institutional knowledge and long-term strategic expertise. This factor evaluates the professional background of founders and senior leadership teams, including years of experience in admissions consulting, academic credentials, media visibility, and demonstrated influence within the industry. Firms led by individuals with deep experience in selective admissions counseling tended to perform more strongly in this category.

Average Employee Tenure measures organizational consistency and advisor retention. Firms with longer-tenured counseling teams often provide a more stable advising experience because counselors develop deeper familiarity with the firm’s methodology, communication style, and strategic approach over time. High turnover, by contrast, can create inconsistencies in advising quality and student experience.

Student Focus / Specialization evaluates whether a firm has developed expertise serving particular student populations or admissions niches. Examples include students targeting highly selective universities, student-athletes, STEM-focused applicants, neurodivergent students, legacy applicants, or international students. Firms with clearly defined specialization areas often demonstrated more targeted advising strategies and stronger institutional familiarity within those categories.

Application Support Structure assesses how effectively a firm manages the logistical side of the admissions process. This includes timeline management, communication systems, essay revision workflows, deadline organization, and overall process coordination. Firms with highly structured systems tended to score better because they often reduce stress and create greater accountability throughout the application cycle.

Online Review Sentiment aggregates publicly available feedback across multiple review platforms to identify broader patterns in client satisfaction. While online reviews were not treated as definitive indicators of advising quality, they provided useful insight into responsiveness, communication style, organization, and overall client experience. Consistently strong review sentiment across multiple sources generally contributed positively to a firm’s overall evaluation.

Scores were ultimately calculated using a weighted-average methodology, in which each evaluation criterion contributed a specific percentage to the final composite score. The weighting system reflects the relative importance of each factor in determining the effectiveness of a private college admissions consulting firm, particularly for students applying to highly selective colleges and universities.

Evaluation Criteria and Weighting

Total Weight: 100%

1. The �鶹ԭ��

Best for: Students targeting highly selective colleges who need strategic positioning and deep essay support
Top strengths: Strategy-driven advising, extensive essay mentorship, strong institutional insight
Possible drawback: The process can feel more intensive than lighter-touch advising models

The �鶹ԭ�� approaches admissions through a strategy-first lens, emphasizing how every component of a student’s application works together to form a cohesive narrative. Rather than treating academics, activities, and essays as separate tracks, the firm focuses on alignment – how a student’s profile reflects institutional priorities at highly selective schools.

This level of integration often results in a more immersive advising experience. Students spend significant time refining positioning and narrative, which can be particularly effective at the most competitive level, though it may require more engagement than families initially expect.

2. Command Education

Best for: Students starting early and building long-term extracurricular profiles
Top strengths: Structured planning, leadership development, long-term strategy
Possible drawback: Less emphasis on narrative and essay depth

Command Education is built around early engagement and long-term planning. Students often begin working with the firm well before the application process, focusing on developing structured extracurricular profiles and leadership experiences over time.

This forward-looking model can deliver strong outcomes for students willing to commit early, though it tends to emphasize activity-building over narrative refinement.

3. Solomon Admissions Consulting

Best for: Students targeting top-tier universities with strong essay support
Top strengths: Essay development, strategic positioning, selective school focus
Possible drawback: Can feel corporate or impersonal

Solomon Admissions Consulting focuses on students applying to highly selective universities, with an emphasis on development and positioning. The firm’s advising process often centers on how students present themselves through personal branding.

This approach is particularly well-suited for competitive applicants, though it may feel more intensive than necessary for students applying to a wider range of schools.

4. InGenius Prep

Best for: Students seeking global advising with former admissions officer insight
Top strengths: International reach, AO perspective, broad service offerings
Possible drawback: Experience can vary depending on advisor

InGenius Prep combines a global advising model with access to former admissions officers, offering support across a wide range of student profiles. Its scale allows for flexibility in services, including application guidance, essay support, and broader planning.

Because of its size, the experience can differ depending on the counselor, though the overall framework remains consistent.

5. Collegewise

Best for: Students seeking structured, supportive guidance
Top strengths: Student-friendly approach, consistent communication, balanced advising
Possible drawback: Less aggressive positioning strategy

Collegewise offers a more approachable and structured admissions experience, focusing on helping students navigate the process without unnecessary stress. Its advising model emphasizes organization and steady support.

While effective for many students, the approach is generally less focused on aggressive strategic positioning.

6. Private Prep

Best for: NYC students needing both academic and admissions support
Top strengths: Academic integration, strong NYC familiarity, flexible services
Possible drawback: Less specialized in elite admissions strategy

Private Prep integrates academic tutoring with admissions counseling, making it a practical option for students balancing coursework with application preparation. The firm’s familiarity with NYC schools adds an additional layer of context to its advising.

Its focus, however, leans more toward academic support than high-level admissions positioning.

7. Christopher Rim Consulting

Best for: Students targeting highly selective schools with boutique support
Top strengths: Positioning strategy, high-touch advising, selective focus
Possible drawback: Can feel intense for less competitive applicants

Christopher Rim Consulting operates as a boutique firm with a focus on students applying to highly selective colleges. Its advising model centers on positioning—how a student’s application is perceived across essays, activities, and interviews.

This hands-on approach can be effective at the highest level, though it may feel demanding for students not aiming at top-tier schools.

8. College Planning NYC

Best for: Families seeking highly personalized, one-on-one advising
Top strengths: Individual attention, flexible structure, relationship-driven approach
Possible drawback: Smaller scale and fewer specialized resources

College Planning NYC reflects the independent consultant model, offering highly personalized guidance with a strong emphasis on relationship-building. The advising process tends to be flexible and responsive rather than programmatic.

This can be a major advantage for families seeking individualized support, though it lacks the infrastructure of larger firms.

9. Aristotle Circle

Best for: Students needing both academic support and admissions guidance
Top strengths: Integrated services, strong tutoring, flexible model
Possible drawback: Less focus on elite admissions positioning

Aristotle Circle blends tutoring and college counseling into a single offering, making it particularly useful for students who need academic support alongside application guidance. Its advising model is flexible and service-oriented.

The trade-off is that the admissions strategy may not be as well-developed as at firms focused exclusively on that area.

10. Top Tier Admissions

Best for: High-achieving students targeting selective colleges
Top strengths: Academic positioning, structured strategy, AO experience
Possible drawback: Less NYC-specific personalization

Top Tier Admissions emphasizes academic rigor and strategic positioning, particularly for students applying to highly selective institutions. Its approach is structured and grounded in admissions expertise.

While effective for high-achieving students, the model is less tailored to the NYC school ecosystem.

Frequently Asked Questions About College Admissions Consultants

What does a college admissions consultant do?

A consultant provides guidance across the admissions process, including college list development, extracurricular planning, and essay support.

Are they worth it?
For students applying to selective schools, additional strategy and personalization can significantly improve how an application is presented.
When should students start?

Some begin early for long-term planning, while others start in junior year when applications become the focus.

Can they guarantee admission?

No—admissions outcomes ultimately depend on each university’s process and applicant pool.

Conclusion

Choosing a college counseling firm is ultimately about fit. Different firms prioritize different aspects of the process; some focus on long-term planning, others on structured guidance, and others on narrative and positioning.

In a market as competitive as New York City, these distinctions matter. The most effective advising relationship is not necessarily the one with the most resources, but the one that aligns most closely with a student’s goals, working style, and level of support needed. No single firm is the best for every student. The strongest choice is the one that meets the student where they are and helps them present themselves honestly, confidently, and with a clear goal in mind.

What Are My Application Options?

When you apply to Brown, you have two primary avenues for admission. You can apply Regular Decision, which is what most first-year applicants do, or you can apply . In this post, we’re going to break down why Early Decision is your best way into Brown and how to make the most of it.

Brown Early Decision. For the Class of 2029, over half of the total class, 907 of 1,768 students, were admitted ED. This for the Class of 2030 when again over 50% of the first-year class was accepted Early Decision. What this tells us is that applying ED to Brown is an exceptionally powerful tool. If Brown is a dream school for you, you need to apply ED if you want to get in. If you don’t use the Early Decision round and decide to see what happens in Regular Decision, is only slightly better than rolling a pair of dice and betting on double 2’s. Seriously, we checked the probability on that.  

If you want to beat the odds at Brown, we can help. Learn more here.

Why Should I Apply Early Decision To Brown?

The overall acceptance rate for the Class of 2030, remember, was 5.35%. The Regular Decision acceptance rate, though, was much lower at . The Early Decision acceptance rate, though, was much higher at . Now, this number doesn’t actually apply to all ED applicants. The ED round includes recruited athletes, children of large donors, and other ‘special cases’ that had a good idea that they were in before they even pressed submit. However, even when you account for all those non-standard applicants, the ED acceptance rate is more than twice the regular decision acceptance rate at Brown.

Brown has been about how they review first-year applications recently. Many members of the Brown Admissions team are recent graduates of Brown, so it should not come as a surprise that they are deeply passionate about finding students who will strengthen and value the Brown community. Now, Brown asserts that they give applications “as long as it takes.” But that actually isn’t feasible. They have to figure out if you are right for Brown fast. Each admissions officer has the task of reviewing over 1,000 applications each year. The amount of time they can give to each application is a matter of minutes, and those that are a ‘no’ get even less consideration.

What Can You Do?

The easy answer to what you can do is to apply early, but the harder answer is that you need to plan and prepare well in advance of applying to ensure that your application is as strong as possible. Simply applying early does not turn a weak application into a strong one. Nothing, in fact, turns a weak application to Brown into a strong application except strengthening your application. “The expectations of an applicant being a ‘good community member’ and a successful student at Brown ,” Brown admissions says, based on the applicant submitting Early Decision or Regular Decision.

So, you have work to do. Below, we break it down.

Grades

Admissions team members that they tend to start their application review with the school report, which gives context to the next component they look at: the transcript. “The consideration in the admission process is your high school performance and preparedness,” they say. This includes grades, but also how you chose to challenge yourself. Brown wants to see transcripts that show excellence in performance alongside a willingness to challenge oneself. That means taking the hardest classes that you have access to not only in the subject most closely aligned with what you want to study, but across the board.

According to Brown statistics, 95% of incoming first-years for the Class of 2029 were in the of their graduating class. The other 5% were most likely (and almost certainly) recruited athletes or ‘special cases.’ If you fall into either of those groups, you probably aren’t reading this post. If you are reading this, you must be at the top of your class. It’s truly non-negotiable.

Scores

Brown requires that applicants submit SAT or ACT scores, but they emphasize that the scores are informative — not determinative. There is no minimum for admission, and the scores are considered within the context of your reality. In their words: “Considering testing means that our understanding of a student’s scores is based on multiple factors, including educational background, socioeconomic status, home and school community, and accessibility to well-equipped testing centers…”

So, they don’t expect every applicant to have a perfect score to get in, but they do expect you to be prevailing above and beyond your resources. Again, there are no minimum standardized test scores to be considered for admission by Brown, but functionally there sort of are even when they take into account your resources and opportunities. If the last two sentences sound contradictory, we get it. They really do care about your circumstances, but they also expect a lot from applicants to be seriously considered for admission.

There are so many impressive applicants from such a wide range of backgrounds and resources that have the high SAT or ACT scores that Brown is looking for. To ensure your application stands out, an SAT ERW score of 740+ and a Math section score of 750+. On the ACT, you want to be able to submit a 35 or 36.

Extracurriculars

There is no particular set of clubs or activities that make your more attractive to Brown. There are, though, a few guidelines you must follow. First, you need to be pursuing things that are relevant to your prospective major — not only things relevant to your major, but at least two or three. Next, you need to be doing something that speaks to the value your hold for your community and how you work to improve the place you live in. “Admissions officers for students who are engaged with their communities,” they say, and that could be through a club, and independent project, a political campaign, or employment.  

Finally, you need to be doing at least one thing that underlines your ability to work as a member of a team, and another (or it could be the same one) that emphasizes your ability to lead a team. Since you will be submitting your application in the fall of your senior year, you need to hold a leadership role that you were either elected to or selected for during junior year such that you have stories to tell from the experience in your essays.

Essays

When applying to Brown, they expect to see strong writing with a story to tell. By “story,” we don’t mean trauma or elaborate experiences. Rather, what works for Brown is truly authenticity, curiosity, and grit. That can be shown by writing about something fancy-sounding, or by writing about a summer job doing trail work at a state park.

The key in your writing is to link your academic passions to your personal passions and to tell that story through narrative-forward essays that do three things:

1. Connect with the reader on a personal level.

2. Communicate your enthusiasm for your interests.

3. Emphasize the role of community in your life and how you see yourself contributing to the community at Brown.

Apply Early

Remember that even with all the serious language around the Early Decision agreement, Early Decision t actually legally binding. Brown can fine you for pulling out of an ED agreement, but that’s about it. The biggest negative repercussion for breaking an ED agreement is actually felt by your school, as colleges have been known to ‘punish’ a high school after a student breaks an ED agreement. So, don’t go into ED with the idea of breaking it. However, if you really need to in the end to make the best choice for yourself, it is possible.

This should give you some sense of confidence in deciding to apply to Brown ED, as you can get out of it if you really need to.  

As you work on the application, start thinking about the video well in advance of actually needing to make it. The video gets , but it really should be something that you are thinking about close to first. All the same rules for the essays apply here, too.

In this post, we’ve been focusing on the overall application items you need to know to ED for Brown’s main undergraduate college, but Brown has two programs with their own unique application quirks: the Brown|RISD Dual Degree (2% acceptance rate) and PLME (1.3% acceptance rate). These programs, as evidenced by the acceptance rates, are some of the most competitive and difficult to enter programs in the country, if not globally. These applications require additional strategy steps to make a strong argument for admission. 

Whatever your application, know that you do have a fighting chance because you’ll be connecting directly with other humans. “The admissions committee ,” Brown says, “use artificial intelligence to sort through any of the applications, no matter a student’s academic standing…” So, it’s up to you to make the most of the moments you have with the Brown application readers. For your best shot, get in touch.

We help strong students get into exceptional schools. Contact us to Learn more.

Today we spoke with Philip Dunne, President and General Manager of . StraighterLine’s affordable online college courses are accepted for transfer credits at more U.S. colleges than any other online course provider. With a catalog spanning foundational college prep through nursing prerequisites and general education requirements, StraighterLine is built around a single conviction: flexible education is only valuable if the credits actually count. In this interview, Dunne addresses how high-achieving high school students are using self-paced college coursework to get ahead, stand out, save thousands on tuition, and arrive at their target schools better positioned than their peers.

At The �鶹ԭ��, our students aim for the most selective institutions in the country. A gap in a transcript or a failed prerequisite can create unexpected delays in a process that values consistency. Careful planning is one of the best ways for a student to protect their progress and keep their application on track. When a platform exists that can close that gap quickly and credibly, it's worth understanding exactly how to use it, which is why we sat down with Philip Dunne to find out.

Q: A lot of the students we work with aren't looking to catch up, they're looking to get ahead. How are high school students using online course providers to arrive at college already ahead of their peers?

A: The students who use online courses most strategically in high school aren't doing it because they have to. They're doing it because they've figured out that the college experience is significantly better when you're not spending your first two semesters on required foundational coursework. Completing general education requirements before you arrive means more room in your schedule for upper-level courses, research opportunities, and the experiences that actually define the college experience. What makes that possible is that every StraighterLine course carries ACE recommendation — the independent standard colleges already use to evaluate outside coursework. We also have formal transfer guarantees at more than 180 institutions. The students we see doing this are deliberate about it. They're engineering their first year before it ever starts.

Q: When a high school student completes a college-level course before they even set foot on campus, how does that change their freshman year experience?

A: It changes the starting line. A student who arrives having already completed introductory coursework in their intended field isn't orienting, they're accelerating. They can move directly into courses that challenge them, pursue a double major without the timeline pressure, or simply have more breathing room in a year that can otherwise feel overwhelming. The credits arrive with a credibility signal institutions already recognize, which means this isn't a question of whether the work counts. It's a question of what the student does with the head start. We also hear something less obvious from students: there's a confidence factor. Walking into a rigorous program having already demonstrated you can handle college-level work at your own initiative is a different feeling than hoping you're ready.

Q: Admissions committees see thousands of transcripts. When a student has sought out coursework beyond what their high school offers, what signal does that send, and how does an online course provider fit into that story?

A: It signals intellectual initiative to admissions committees, which is one of the harder things to demonstrate on a transcript. A GPA tells a committee how a student performed within the system they were given. A student who went outside that system to pursue coursework their school didn't offer is telling a different story, one about curiosity and drive that goes beyond what was required of them. StraighterLine gives students access to a catalog their high school almost certainly doesn't offer. Completing that work rigorously and independently is exactly the kind of evidence an admissions essay can point to authentically.

Q: The students we work with are managing a lot — athletics, extracurriculars, test prep, travel. How does a self-paced platform actually work for a student whose schedule looks nothing like a traditional classroom?

A: It works precisely because there is no schedule to conflict with. No fixed class times, no semester start dates, no deadlines that collide with a tournament or a family commitment. A student can move through a course intensively during a quiet stretch and step back during a demanding one. Some courses can be completed in less than 23 days, which means a motivated student can make meaningful academic progress over a summer without it consuming the whole thing. That kind of flexibility isn't a compromise. For a high-achieving student managing multiple serious commitments, it's actually a more sophisticated learning environment.

Q: Summer and gap year productivity is something families think about seriously. In your experience, how are ambitious students using that time in a way that looks intentional on an application?

A: A summer spent completing two or three college-level courses tells a very specific story about a student: they chose to invest in their academic trajectory when no one required them to. Seeking out a self-directed academic challenge is fundamentally different from a summer program where enrollment is the extent of the initiative. The work is verifiable on a transcript, and every course includes eTextbooks, tutoring, practice tests, and a dedicated support team to guide students every step of the way. For gap year students especially, it solves a real problem: how do you demonstrate continued academic seriousness during a year that could otherwise look like a pause? The answer is coursework that isn't just impressive on paper — it's bankable credit toward the degree that follows.

Princeton has been in the process of expanding their student body for the past few years, and 2025 marked the first fall that the university hit their aim: . Expanding the undergraduate student body didn’t make it easier to get in, though. The number of students applying has been growing more rapidly than the student body expanded, so the acceptance rate has continued drop even as the first-year class grew. To try to get an advantage in the process, students try for the best boost they can get beyond building a compelling application profile. That advantage would be applying Single-Choice Early Action.  

What Are My Application Options?

Like every other school that follows the standard application calendar, Princeton receives most of the first-year applications they get annually in the Regular Decision round. This is how most students apply, but it’s also the hardest way to get into Princeton.

Applying early to Princeton gives you a boost, but it also doesn’t offer any security. Princeton is one of only a handful of schools that uses Single-Choice Early Action (SCEA or S-C EA). Other schools that implement the same system include Harvard, Yale, and Stanford. Each, like Princeton, have their own take on it, though, so knowing how Harvard does SCEA does not mean that you know how Princeton does it.

SCEA is nonbinding, but it also doesn’t give you wiggle room in the early admissions round. Through SCEA, you cannot apply early to any other private college or university, but you can hedge your bets. SCEA applicants are free to apply early to public institutions (not only in-state), as long as you are using a non-binding option. This means that you can apply SCEA to Princeton and then apply to a list of public university options early action to help ensure that you most definitely have somewhere to go after the early round of admissions. Ideally, of course, you get into Princeton. If you don’t, however, you have security in the Regular Decision or EDII round as you are already into college.  

Princeton does not offer a binding Early Decision option, so in this post we are going to break down what you need to know to make the most of the Single-Choice Early Action avenue for admission to increase your odds of getting into Princeton.

We help strong students break into the Ivies. Learn how here.

Why Should I Apply Single-Choice Early Action To Princeton?

Princeton has not published the early acceptance rate in recent years, but if we follow the trends of other top-tier institutions that use the SCEA application option we can estimate that the SCEA acceptance rate for Princeton is between 10% and 15%. The overall acceptance rate, then (4.4%), is actually much higher than the regular decision acceptance rate. So, you can choose. Do you aim for Princeton with a 10ish% acceptance rate, or do you take a shot at what might be as low as a 1% acceptance rate. It’s your choice, but we certainly have an opinion.

With the odds of regular decision stacked so firmly against you, there is not much that you can accomplish in the few extra weeks between the SCEA deadline and the RD deadline that makes up for the lost odds of acceptance.

What Can You Do?

Of course, deciding to apply to Princeton SCEA is a big decision. You are giving up your best shot at any other top school, too, and that is a big cost. If Princeton is truly your first choice, though, it’s time to start getting your application in order. Yes, it may be months or even years before applying, but you need to start as early as you can.

Grades

“During the admission process, our goal is to find students who will thrive in Princeton’s rigorous academic environment,” so Princeton offers a suggested ‘’ that all first-year applicants should meet or exceed if they want to be seriously considered for admission. One of the most surprising things they suggest (or, at least, surprising to most students) is that they suggest that strong applicants have some experience in on their transcript.

We often see that students choose to quit the visual or performing arts in high school if they aren’t keen on pursuing the art form of their choice in college. The same goes for athletics. If they aren’t going to be recruited, many students quit so that they can focus their efforts on the most relevant academics. The problem with this strategy, though, is that students forget that Princeton is grounded in the liberal arts, and they heavily prioritize community-mindedness and teamwork. The arts and other programs that may, in the moment, feel like a waste of time, are actually a meaningful step toward creating your strongest Princeton application. So, don’t quit the creative classes. They are good for your brain and good for your application.

At the same time, you also need to be taking the hardest courses that you have access to in your prospective area of study — and beyond. It is as important for a STEM applicant to take AP English Lit as it is to take AP Physics, if you have access to both. And if you are at a school that has limited or no AP courses, take the hardest course that is on offer.

Scores

Princeton has not published the SAT or ACT score range for first-year accepted students since 2021. They say that this is because they want to focus on students, which is honestly super annoying and actually seems to be more about attracting applicants with no chance of getting in, subsequently driving down the acceptance rate even further. That’s pretty rude, right?

The test-optional policy that Princeton has had since Covid in the 2027-2028 admissions cycle. For now, though, you can decide whether you will submit SAT or ACT scores. If you want to get in, though, you really need to submit scores.

Now, there are some exceptions. If you live in a place where it is extremely difficult to access one or both of the tests, requiring hours of driving, that is a valid excuse. International students, too, often struggle to access the SAT or ACT. Not taking either test, however, simply raises the stakes for everything else on your application. Your grades need to be better, your activities need to be more impressive, and your academic recommendations need to be more glowing, simply to get yourself onto the same level as a comparable applicant with strong test scores. And what do we mean by strong? Strong scores for Princeton are an SAT over 1540 or an ACT over 34.

Remember, too, that if you will be applying without test scores, applying early is even more important than for other students who are applying with scores.  

Extracurriculars

Simply being a top student is not enough for Princeton. To get into the college, you need to do more than rack up high grades. They could take their pick of a pool made up of only the single best student at each of the best high schools in America, and still reject thousands. That’s honestly wild, which is why you need to be so much more than a set of numbers.

Princeton looks for students who exemplify leadership, community-mindedness, and who can show through previous experience that they will be a positive and contributive addition to the campus community. In pursuit of that goal, not everything you do should be academically-minded. Yes, clubs like Model UN are valuable — especially if you win awards and recognitions — but sports, long-term community service, a serving job on the weekends, or a mentoring role with a local nonprofit are equally as valuable. They may even be more valuable, honestly, as the standard academically-minded clubs are what every other applicant with your interests and grades are doing. For strong Princeton applicants they are leading them, too. Being a team captain or club head doesn’t by itself make you stand out. You need to build beyond what’s offered, nurture community around you, and collect inspiring stories along the way.  

Essays

When we hear from students who applied SCEA on their own, or even with the support of another firm, and who are disappointed by a Princeton rejection, the most common problem we see in their application is that their focus was on the wrong place. They met all the baseline requirements to get serious consideration from Princeton. They had the grades, the scores, the extracurriculars, and the leadership roles. What they were lacking, though, was being likeable.

Likeability is the #1 most overlooked aspect of the elite college admissions process. Applicants spend so much time trying to look impressive, that they forget that the admissions officers need to actually want to get to know them. We work with our students to build narrative-forward writing that communicates your passions alongside your care for the community around you.

Apply Early

Of course, you can do all the prep and prepare all of the pieces, but you also actually need to apply early. Sometimes, students flinch at the last minute. To put it bluntly, don’t.

Applying to Princeton early through Single-Choice Early Action is a risk. It’s a big one, but it can also be the right risk for you if planned correctly. We work with students to do exactly that.

Getting into an Ivy is more art than it is science. Contact us to Learn more.

We’ve spent the last 6 blogs showing you how to write the best possible personal statement in response to each Common App prompt, but we haven’t been shy about the fact that Prompt #7 is our favorite option (and it’s not close!).

Now why is that, exactly? It’s because Prompt #7 is more like an anti-prompt — it gives you complete freedom to write about any topic you choose, which means you’re much more likely to stand out. Still, while this is a fantastic opportunity to color outside the lines and show off your creativity, your personal statement still needs to function as a college application essay.

What we mean by that is that you can absolutely break the mold here, but your 650 words should tell a story, introduce information that doesn’t appear anywhere else in your Common App, and allow admissions officers to get to know you better. That’s how you leave an impression — don’t try duct-taping a banana to a wall or exhibiting a urinal (our apologies to Duchamp for the shade), otherwise you’ll be wasting the most important essay of your college application on an abstract gesture that says nothing about who you are as a person.

Let’s get into it, then: the dos and don’ts of Prompt #7!

Common App Prompt #7

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

Our Assessment

We don’t just like it — we LOVE it. No matter what topic you choose, the framing and approach will be all your own, and your essay will be as different from another example of a Prompt #7 statement as it will be from a response to Prompt #3.

That being said, the advantages of this prompt mostly come down to originality. In other words, don’t take this as an excuse to recycle a paper you’ve already written. Not only is it pretty clear to admissions officers when you’ve retrofitted a pre-existing essay to check the box of your personal statement, but an academic or analytical paper doesn’t speak to your personality or unique skills.

Let’s put it this way: if you’re really proud of a past assignment you turned in for history class, your abilities and performance already show in your transcript. Beyond that, you’re not demonstrating your distinct qualities by submitting a think piece on what Napoleon did wrong at Waterloo, and it’s highly doubtful you could pare a persuasive argumentative paper down to 650 words in the first place. And, finally, using your Common App essay in this way would be a waste because individual school supplements typically ask about the origins of and examples of your academic passions. (Some schools — like Princeton and Amherst, for example — even require that you upload an expository piece of writing that’s been graded by one of your high school teachers.)

Suffice it to say that your treatise on the downfall of the First French Empire is a no go. However, you could write a really refreshing and entertaining personal statement that describes how your love of pop led you to research the way cultural responses to political movements and historical events manifest in music, from ABBA’s “Waterloo” to the Cranberries’ “Zombie.”

And that’s the reason we think this prompt high-key rocks — it allows you to write a very different, one-of-a-kind essay that tells readers a lot about who you are and how you think that probably wouldn’t fit as a response to any of the cookie cutter prompts (#1-#6).

How to Do It Right

As you’re wrapping your head around the limitless possibilities of Prompt #7, you might feel a little daunted by the prospect of coming up with a “unique” topic. Don’t worry if something akin to a throughline from French colonialism to the Troubles in Northern Ireland by way of Swedish disco and a ‘90s chart topper doesn’t immediately come to mind; there are a million ways to go about this, and we’ve found that the best essays start with ordinary moments and authentic details.

Think about it — even this example we’ve given is actually pretty “small” on a plot level. It doesn’t tell the story of free climbing Mt. Everest; it talks about an interest our imaginary student stumbled across lying on their bedroom floor listening to their favorite oldies playlist on shuffle while taking a break from their gnarly AP Chem problem set. That’s what you’re aiming for! At its heart, your personal statement is a way of introducing yourself and identifying what’s emotionally profound and distinctly “you” in the stream of daily life.

If you’re not sure how to go about identifying that thing, don’t worry — that’s what this post is for! First, keep your focus narrow and your structure simple. Your essay should tell a story. That’s the best way to pack a real punch in 650 words; you can get a message across while writing a compelling, well-paced personal statement. Second, decide what you want your personal statement to say about you. Choose the quality or combination of characteristics you want to showcase in this writing sample, and then find an anecdote or example that will allow you to illuminate that side of yourself.

When you’re working on this second point, you may immediately know what you want to get at, but if not do a little bit of brainstorming. Here are some questions to get you started:

• What are the first words that come to mind for your friends and family when they describe you

• What are some of your favorite memories to revisit or what fun facts or stories do you find yourself relating during icebreaker games or cocktail party chatter?

• Is there something you’ve done or an interest you have that most people wouldn’t guess? Why do you think it’s surprising or might seem “off-brand,” and why is it actually in character?

• Have you ever won when playing two truths and a lie? What were your three statements, and what made it hard to guess which were real and which was false?

• If you could pause time and have 24 hours entirely to yourself, what would you do with it, and why?

As you freewrite or make a list of responses, pay attention to any ideas that recur, excite you, or leave you inspired to say more. Those will lead you to your topic.

Getting to Your First Draft

Here’s the good news. Yes, writing your essay and polishing it to perfection will take work, but once you’ve decided on an idea the hardest part is over. There’s so much pressure associated with the Common App essay that coming up with a topic can be paralyzing, but, as we hope this post has shown you, it doesn’t have to be. And if you’ve made it here, you’re already through the worst of it. Kudos to you!

Your next step is writing a full first draft. If you work best from an outline, then draw up a roadmap for your essay that gets you from A to B and execute it. If you tend to find your form as you go, then start writing from the “hook” — set the scene and get right into the action that made you interested in this topic yourself, and then write until you feel you’ve got the full story down.

At this stage, your essay will probably be too long, but that’s ok! It’s really important that you fully flesh out your idea without self-censoring, because you can always cut it down once you’ve got a statement to edit. What you ������’t do is revise an essay within the 650 word limit to have substance and intrigue if the core material is boring or meaningless.

Once you’ve got a full draft, read it out loud to yourself and listen for any sections that are poorly phrased, rhythmically awkward, thematically confusing, irrelevant, or boring. You’ll want to make those big-picture revisions first, adding clarity where it’s needed and removing extraneous or distracting passages. After that, if you’re sure the order of information is set and the story you’re telling hits all the necessary beats, you can edit for style. That means optimizing for sentence-length variation, voice, diction, and descriptive or figurative language.

When you’ve completed several rounds of individual revisions and you feel you’ve taken your personal statement as far as you can on your own, solicit feedback for final touches from a trusted editor (or two, at most). That might be your best friend who knows your voice and has given you good notes on past assignments, a teacher, or a writing-inclined parent or older sibling. Make your last tweaks, and your Common App essay is — can you believe it?! — complete, and you’re ready to run. Three cheers for Prompt #7! Long may it reign!!!

For expert advice on writing a one-of-a-kind personal statement for your college applications, contact us today.

This past year, Columbia then received number of first-year applicants ever in the history of the university. Over 61,000 first-year applications were submitted to Columbia College, the liberal arts college, and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, which is insane given that only 2,581 were accepted between both schools. This the first year of a three-year plan to expand the undergraduate student body, which comparable institutions (including Ivies) are also undertaking. Despite student citing crowded student spaces, there will be 125, 200, and then 250 additional first-years starting in the fall of 2026. Don’t get excited, though. That won’t make it easier to get in.

One of the ways that Columbia maintains such a low acceptance rate is by heavily prioritizing early applicants in the admissions process. Students who apply early have decided, because it is binding, that they are all-in on Columbia. This gives the university confidence not only in them as an individual applicant, but also in their commitment to the Columbia community and culture.

What Are My Application Options?

Students interested in Columbia to apply Regular Decision, which is regular, or Early Decision. The Columbia Early Decision option is a classic. It’s binding (albeit technically breakable with a slap on the wrist fine), and it makes you place a bet on the university. Early Decision offers your best chance of getting into any top-tier school, so choosing to apply to Columbia ED means not using that same tool for another college or university. 

Of the just under 60,000 students who applied for the Class of 2029, applied in the Early Decision round. The numbers were within spitting distance the following year for the most recent class, the Class of 2030. Below, we break down how to make the numbers work in your favor.

We help driven students get into exceptional colleges. Learn more here.

Why Should I Apply Early Decision To Columbia?

We know the overall acceptance rate for the Class of 2030, which was 4.23%. That marked a ~.5% drop from the previous year, continuing a declining trend seen across top schools. What we don’t know, though, is the recent Early Decision acceptance rate. However, we can guestimate.

Based on comparable universities, we expect that the ED acceptance rate is about two times the regular decision acceptance rate. The overall acceptance rate, remember, is not the regular decision acceptance rate. The overall is the average of the Early Decision acceptance rate and the Regular Decision acceptance rate. Doing some back of the napkin math, an ED acceptance rate of about 6% and an RD acceptance rate of half that, or 3%, gets you to the current 4.23% average. Given our expectations that the ED acceptance rate is 2-3x RD, that checks out. Remember, it’s an estimate — but an informed one.

If you love Columbia, you want the best chance possible of getting in. Why, then, would you give up a 2x opportunity?

What Can You Do?

It isn’t easier to get into Columbia ED, though. It is not as if they lower their standards for students who are committed and timely. The best thing that you can do is to prepare. We start getting students ready for an ED application as early as the fall of Junior year. If you have less time, there are still strong steps that you can take to increase your odds of admission.

Grades

Ultimately, the primary goal of the Columbia admissions team is to accept students who will thrive in either Columbia College or the School of Engineering. Thrive personally, yes, but being able to hang academically is actually the most important thing.

While applying early gives you an advantage it is not an advantage that makes up for anything less than an exceptional academic record. B’s do not get one into Columbia unless there are significant extenuating personal circumstances (think: being a recruited athlete, being the child of a large donor, etc.) that would also mean that you aren’t reading this post.

We encourage our students to not only work for the best possible grades, but also to achieve those grades in the hardest classes they have access to. Taking AP Bio as a literature-minded student doesn’t undercut your application. Instead, it shows your tenacity, creativity, and commitment to excellence: three things Columbia is always on the lookout for.

Scores

Columbia is as far as test-optionality. While all of the other Ivy League institutions have reinstated their required testing policies, Columbia has stayed test optional. The truth, though, is that not many students actually get in without submitting test scores. So, why does Columbia stay ?

The cynical (but correct) side of us thinks that Columbia maintains test-optionality because it drives the mountain of applications that they are receiving in record numbers. The more applications for the same number of seats, the lower the acceptance rate. That serves Columbia’s purposes quite nicely.

Now, it’s also possible that staying test optional has allowed Columbia to consider some students who don’t have access to standardized tests. Students in Oklahoma City, for example, often have to drive hours to take the SAT and, even with the drive, it’s difficult to secure a seat as the test dates sell out. By maintaining test optionality, Columbia is able to relieve some of the stress of accessing a test, allowing students to focus on building their application by other means. That’s cool, but remember that it doesn’t make admissions an equal playing field. Instead, students who choose to go test optional need to have an application that overpowers that set-back.

If you do have access to the SAT or ACT, you need to an SAT score of 1540+ or an ACT of 35+ to stand out. While students do get in with lower scores, far more get in with higher ones.

Extracurriculars

It’s pretty normal for most high school students to attain leadership roles when they become seniors. If you are applying ED to Columbia, though, that timeline doesn’t work. You need evidence of leadership and a proven track record before applying. Otherwise, you’ll be writing about what you hope to do rather than what you have already accomplished.

We advise our students to become a head of a club, organization, or team that they didn’t start by the middle of Junior year. Why should it be something you didn’t start? Because if you started a club, it’s not all that surprising that you are leading it. And while that role may illustrate your ability to start something, it doesn’t actually say much of anything about you as a community member. You can also start something, of course, but that ������’t be the only leadership on your resume come senior fall.

It's also important that you pursue something that serves your community and that is long-term. Volunteering once or twice is not long-term. Volunteering at a food pantry every week for two year is. Long-term commitment to a volunteer role shows all the personal traits that Columbia is looking for, plus that you can navigate the complexities of a calendar.

Essays

Where a strong Columbia ED application truly shines, though, isn’t in the activities section. Rather, it’s in the writing. Columbia looks for students who are self-aware, who embrace a challenge, who are open to new and complex ideas, and who are able to navigate discomfort. The university as a whole is somewhere that has become known for having hard conversations about everything from on-campus politics to global issues that impact members of the student body. If you are not someone who is comfortable being uncomfortable, Columbia is probably not the school for you, and they are looking out for that when sifting out weak applications.

The most overlooked aspect of the Columbia essays, though, especially for ED applicants, is likeability. Being impressive is not enough. They have many times more ‘impressive’ applicants than they can accept. Ultimately, you need to be someone they actually want to run into outside of Butler Library to get in. Don’t, then, waste time preening in your writing when you could be connecting with the application readers human-to-human. One more award is far less interesting to them than hearing about what drives you.

Apply Early

The last step is to do the obvious: apply early.  

Columbia about having a ‘holistic’ application review process that lets you shine through many different avenues: academically, of course, but also through your extracurriculars, you passions, your dreams, and your love of Columbia. That’s true, but it also isn’t unique to Columbia. Basically, every top-tier school says the same thing, and it all works out about the same way. The first hurdle you need to jump is quantitative, and there isn’t much you can do to avoid that requirement unless you are a top athletic recruit who also has super strong (although maybe not perfect) grades. Next you get to shine personally, and that is where Columbia wants to see more than the numbers.

Each year, we help students do just that. Through strategy, planning, and application writing, we help driven high schoolers craft applications that make them stand out, significantly increasing the likelihood of getting in. 

Getting into Columbia requires a strong strategy. Contact us to get yours.

If you want to get into Yale, one thing is clear: applying early is the best option. However, Yale doesn’t offer Early Decision. Instead, they offer students the choice to apply Regular Decision or Single-Choice Early Action. Regular Decision is regular, and there’s nothing tricky there with Yale. Single-Choice Early Action is different, though. Let’s dig in.  

What Are My Application Options?

As we just said, Yale offers two avenues towards admission. The one everyone guesses is Regular Decision. Their early option, though, is less expected. Single-Choice Early Action is neither Early Action nor Early Decision. You aren’t locked in, like with Early Decision. However, your options are limited — unlike with standard Early Action.

, also called Restrictive Early Action, means that you ������’t apply Early Action or Early Decision to other colleges or universities. There are a few exceptions, though. S-C EA applicants can apply to schools through non-binding rolling admission programs, or the early admissions program is at a school outside of the US. This is different than, say, the Harvard REA program, which allows students to apply to state schools early action.

If you want to go to an extremely competitive school, we can help. Start here.

Why Should I Apply Single-Choice Early Action To Yale?

Looking at the Class of 2030, about of early applicants to Yale who used the S-C EA option were admitted. That is a massively higher acceptance rate than the overall, which includes regular decision. So, if you want to get into Yale and you have the profile of a strong applicant (more on that in a sec), you need to apply early.

You also need to take a look at that 11%, though. Included in the 11% are many students who basically knew they were in before they even pressed submit — most notably, recruited athletes. There are also the children of large donors, and ‘special case’ kids who, for a myriad of reasons, were able to approach Yale admissions with a high level of certainty. So, the acceptance rate S-C EA is much higher, but that doesn’t directly equate to a higher likelihood of getting in for exceptional, but standard, applicants.

And if you are a legacy applicant, meaning one or more of your parents went to Yale, S-C EA is the only place that you can get an advantage. If you don’t take the early application option, you’ve thrown that poker chip into a proverbial pond.  

No matter your connection to Yale, you are drastically cutting your chances of getting in even if everything about your profile stays the same if you don’t apply Single-Choice Early Action to Yale. The regular decision acceptance rate for the Class of 2030 was . This does account for the 1,285 previously deferred early applicants, the acceptance rate for students who only applied in the regular decision round, and was a steep drop from the previous year when the RD acceptance rate .  

As a reminder, the overall acceptance rate for the Class of 2030 was 4.2%.

What Can You Do?

If you are passionate about Yale, there are steps that you can take to improve your odds as an early applicant that will also, luckily, strengthen your applicant profile across the board. These are not some big secrets, and they don’t require substantial financial resources, but they do demand your time, your attention, and your commitment. The longer you give yourself on the project of getting into Yale, too, the better. We prefer to start aiming for Yale as early as sophomore year to ensure that by the time a student is ready to start writing essays, they have all the pieces in place for an exceptional application — no excuses.

Now, let’s break down what these pieces are.

Grades

Ultimately, grades are a non-negotiable for getting into Yale. If you have anything under an A- on your transcript, you are facing an uphill battle in making your case as a Yale applicant. Yale expects exceptionalism. Feeling like you are working hard and hearing that your parents are proud of you does not make you Yale caliber academically. That’s okay. There are so many amazing schools in the US that welcome in students with slightly lower grades than perfect. Yale isn’t one of them.

Yale admitted students from all 50 states, 75 countries, and 1,650 different secondary schools for the Class of 2030. So, they are reviewing the academic record of students across a wide swath of school systems, geographies, and resource availability. While they are looking for the best grades in the hardest classes, they also know what is reasonable given the resources you have. This means not taking AP or advanced Physics is understandable if you don’t have access to the course. Getting a B in the physics you did have access to is not, however, Yale caliber.

Also note that there were 2,328 students admitted to the class overall. Reminder: that’s 1,650 schools represented by 2,328 students. And there are tens of thousands of high schools, or secondary schools, in the US alone. So not every high school gets a Yale admit — far less than one third of schools get a Yale admit. Simply being at the top of your class, then, is not enough. Yale isn’t looking at you’re the senior class at your school, even a competitive, well-known high school, and going in with the assumption that they will allocate a certain number of seats, so they just need to find the strongest kids academically and that’s that. Getting into Yale is so much more strategic than that.  

We’re going to dig into different sides of the Yale strategy in the rest of this post, but remember that applying early is not a panacea for soft grades. The S-C EA application pool to Yale tends to be more academically impressive, not less.

Scores

The same goes for scores as grades with Yale, but even more so because everyone takes the same tests and there isn’t much (if any) room for greyscale. Yale that the test score ranges for the 25th to 75th percentiles are:

• SAT-Verbal: 730-780

• SAT-Math: 740-790

• ACT: 33-35

These are the numbers for the Class of 2028, but they ������’t be taken at face value. The pool of applicants considered in these statistics includes recruited athletes, children of large donors, and other “special case” applicants. Remember that, like every private university, Yale is not a meritocracy. Simply having the scores doesn’t get you in, and you really need to be at the top 20% of the range for any chance of getting in.

We tell our students to aim for a 35 or 36 on the ACT. On the SAT, you should be aiming for a composite score of 1550+. Those are hard scores to get, but if you want to be able to apply to Yale with confidence you need top scores as part of your package.

You should also remember that Yale has a “” testing policy, which they adopted in 2024. This means students can submit the ACT, the SAT, or all Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) scores received prior to submitting your application. In almost all circumstances, we recommend submitting the SAT or the ACT, and then layering on AP or IB scores. 

Extracurriculars

The truth is that mot S-C EA applicants have the grades and the scores to get in. They are at the top of their class and are excelling in the hardest classes they have access to. The differentiating factor, then, is what happens outside of the classroom. If you want to study math, for example, you need to be doing more than just getting good math grades. That means joining or starting a math competition team, tutoring younger students in math through a formal program (like a school tutoring resource), finding a relevant internship, working at a STEM summer camp, or even starting your own tutoring business by recruiting a few students to work with once or twice a week.

The key here is that you need to be creating opportunities for yourself. When an activity already exists, you need to be working towards leadership by — or ideally before —senior year. Remember, you’ll be submitting this application early in your senior year, so you need to accomplish impressive things .

Essays

Building up your activities does more than create a stacked activities section. It gives you . Stories, after grades and scores, are the most valuable currency in college admissions. These stories, experiences pursuing passion, navigating challenges, and working as part of a team, are what illustrate for Yale what makes you so phenomenal.  

Essays, , “help paint a picture not only of a student’s accomplishments to date, but also of the ways in which an applicant has taken advantage of available opportunities.” This illuminates that there is no firm set of activities or stories they expect to see in an application. They know that different students have different access to opportunities, and they want to hear in your application about how you grab onto what is available and create opportunities that go beyond what is offered.

In your essays, show this drive and hunger. The best applicants to Yale S-C EA embody intelligence, passion, teamwork, community-mindedness, and a tenacious drive towards something, whether it is mastering an instrument, becoming an expert in a field, or reshaping a field.

Apply Early

Once you have your application pulled together, it can be tempting to hold off on submitting. Maybe there is a potential award or recognition coming down the line, or you think you could inch your grade a tiny bit if you just had a few more weeks.

While some students would benefit from that extra time, the advantage that S-C EA offers to applicants far exceeds a point or two increase in a grade. If you are a strong candidate for Yale, you are already someone they will seriously consider. It is who you are, not any single grade. So, get yourself a bowl of ice cream, call a friend for a dose of confidence, and submit.

Each year, we help strong students get into the Ivy League. For over a decade, we have seen how the early application pathway is undeniably the best way into a top-tier school, including Yale. To make it work for you, start early, work hard, and write vivid and compelling stories that bring your effort to life.

Getting into a great school requires a personalized strategy. Contact us to Learn more.

The yield rate at Harvard is particularly impressive because they don’t have an Early Decision round to lean on and lock students in. If you really want to go to Harvard, you need to take a risk.

What Are My Application Options?

Harvard has two different avenues to admission for the majority of first-year applicants. Unless you are applying through the , you get to pick between Regular Admissions and Restrictive Early Action. Regular Admissions is totally regular. It’s the standard winter deadline, and non-binding. You can apply anywhere as you submit your Harvard regular cycle application, as that application route does not limit your options. The Restrictive Early Action route, though, is full of restrictions with limited upside.

Harvard adopted to, they say, highlight students who are deeply interested in the university without locking them into a future path. This is a bit misleading of a pitch, though. Whereas they say the REA option offers something valuable to the students applying, it’s hard to really see the upside. Applicants through REA are not permitted to apply to any other private universities Early Decision, Early Action, or REA. REA applicants to Harvard can apply to public universities, military academics, and international schools, but only through non-binding programs. That’s a lot of limitations.

At the same time, if you don’t apply to Harvard REA, you drastically decrease your odds of getting in. A higher percentage of Harvard applicants get in REA than through Regular Decision. So, if Harvard is your dream, REA is the route.

We create custom application strategies for highly-driven students. Learn more here.

Note that we said, “if Harvard is your dream,” not if the Ivy League is your true goal. There are much better ways into the Ivy League than through Harvard. There are higher acceptance rates and schools that offer a more substantial boost for binding early application options. But if you are truly set on Harvard, applying through the REA path is your best chance.

Why Should I Apply Restrictive Early Action To Harvard?

Harvard has delayed the release of their admissions data for the past two years, and there is some data that they decline to share at all. What we do know about the REA pathway to admissions at Harvard is that the acceptance rate is significantly higher. It’s been that, for the Class of 2028, the REA acceptance rate was nearly 9%. That same year, the overall acceptance rate was . Less than 1 in 10 in still harsh odds, but it’s a massive boost when you compare it to the overall acceptance rate.

So, the reason for why you should apply to Harvard Restrictive Early Action is pretty self-evident, as long as you are okay with giving up your best possible chance of getting into another top school — with a bigger early boost.

Students qualified for Harvard don’t need the extra two months or so to prepare their applications, so there isn’t a strong argument for needing the extra time to be a strong candidate. Plus, if you don’t apply to Harvard REA, and instead go the regular decision route, they know one of two things to be the case. Either you applied somewhere else Early Decision and didn’t get in, so Harvard isn’t actually your first choice, or you don’t have a strong application strategy. In the era of the information economy, lacking a strategy ������’t be chocked up to not having information. It’s literally all online and, like this post, free. 

What Can You Do?

Once you’ve decided to apply to Harvard REA, there are some pieces that you get to get in place well ahead of the application deadline. Time is your friend here, so the earlier you can begin the prepare the better. We often start working with students as early as sophomore year to ensure that the application will be strong when it’s time to press submit.

Grades

Anything lower than an A after, and even including, freshman year of high school basically excludes all but students with exceptional circumstances from Harvard. Unless you are a top athletic recruit or otherwise considered on terms other than the educational bar for entry, Harvard expects to see transcripts that are basically spotless from strong applicants. When preparing for Harvard, this does mean that you ������’t bet on senior year to ‘fix’ something that happened earlier in your high school experience.

As you push hard academically to excel at the level Harvard expects to see, remember that they need more than grades, though, to be able to offer you a spot in the first-year class.

Scores

After pausing the standardized testing requirements for a few years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Harvard reinstated the requirement for the Class of 2029. Now, all applicants to submit SAT or ACT scores. For students who truly do not have access to the SAT or ACT, .

If you are going to take the SAT or ACT, we advise planning to take either test at least twice. Some students even benefit from taking the test three times, and that doesn’t mean they are struggling. Rather, it’s a process. So, schedule your first SAT or ACT (or try both) during Junior year such that you can plan for additional test dates in the summer or fall.  

The importance of a standardized test score for REA applicants is so high because Harvard doesn’t get to see your full senior fall grades. The standardized test scores, which they expect to be nearly perfect, provide them with confidence that you can perform at the level they want to see when you first arrive on campus. To make this expectation work in your favor, create a study plan and practice test protocol to ensure expertise in the test before you sit it for the first time.

Extracurriculars

When you are applying to Harvard REA, any leadership roles you stepped into at the beginning of senior year are dulled by the lack of time to show outcome. They see you got the position, which is great, but there isn’t much for them to see beyond that when you press submit in the fall. The same goes for any internships, research roles, or other impressive additions to your resume during senior fall. You can put it on, but the experience won’t be long-term enough yet to show your impact.

For this reason, we work with our students to ensure that they will have strong evidence of leadership well before senior year. Whether this is in a club, on a team, or through an independent activity, it ������’t be something you started yourself and so are the de facto leader of. Yes, starting things is awesome — and Harvard does like to see that sort of initiative — but having external validation of your leadership skills through an organized activity where you’ve been elected to lead is massively important. If the only things that you are a leader in you created, that is a major red flag.

Instead, you want to be building towards becoming a captain, head, or co-anything of a group as a junior. Then, during your senior year you can focus on deepening into that role further and transitioning your efforts towards mentoring the next ‘generation’ of leaders.

Essays

Once it is time to work on your application, all the pieces should already be in place for exceptional essay. You have the chops, you have the resume, and now you simply need to tell your story. Of course, this isn’t really as simple as we are making it sound. Writing acceptance-winning essays is an art, not a science, and it’s one we’ve been honing for over a decade (we brag about this a lot—one year we had a 100% acceptance rate REA to Harvard, and multiple kids got personal comments on their essays!). We know what it takes to get into great schools, including Harvard, and story truly is at the center of it. If you ������’t make the application readers feel deeply for you, they don’t have much reason to give your application a second look.

As you are writing, though, remember that you are applying to college, not for a popularity contest. It is as important that you present as a strong and passionate leader, as it is that you tie yourself to Harvard academically. They want to see that there is a specific program you are aiming for, not simply the brand name of the university on your college swag.

Apply Early

This whole post is about applying early, but we’re going to risk redundancy and state that you truly do need to submit your application to Harvard REA if you want to go. Yes, it is possible to get into Harvard in the Regular Decision round. We help students do it every year, but it is more than twice as hard to get in RD so why torture yourself if Harvard is, indeed, the goal.

When we work with students, the more time we have together the better. The real application work starts soon after summer break starts before senior year. That’s when we begin drafting, honing, and revising ahead of supplements coming out (typically in August but generally in the early fall for Harvard). Then it’s off to the races with supplements, final testing opportunities, and communicating with your recommenders so they know best to advocate for you.

Since Harvard REA does allow you to apply to public universities, you should absolutely be submitting EA applications to a handful of public schools. If you don’t get into Harvard but get into some of your other earlies, this offers a meaningful safety net so you can approach the Regular Decision or Early Decision II round with confidence.

Getting into Harvard REA is possible with a clear strategy and the determination to see it through. Perhaps the most crucial piece is to commit to the plan, and that means applying REA if you really want to get in.

Our track record of getting kids into their dream schools speaks for itself. Contact us to learn how we pull it off.

One of the most critical decisions you need to make if you are eyeing MIT is the major or primary interest that you list on your application. Assuming that you are well-qualified applicant with an SAT over 1520, an ACT over 34, and a basically perfect GPA with additional success in STEM, what you decide to apply for academically is the most important tools in your tool belt. This is because there are programs that are super popular, and subsequently more competitive, at MIT, and programs that don’t necessarily make the university easier to get into, but that create more room for consideration of your application.  

The great news is that MIT loves data, so they than nearly any other school to look behind the scenes at what programs are the most popular and which may be less competitive — or even languishing.  

The five most popular majors in the 2025-2026 school year at MIT were:

• Computer Science and Engineering – 672 students

• Mathematics – 379 students

• Artificial Intelligence and Decision Making – 372 students

• Mechanical Engineering, B.S. – 230 students

• Mechanical Engineering, B.S. () – 202 students

If we look backwards to the 2020-2021 school year and the beginning of the decade, we can see how things have shifted a little. That year, there were 100 more students in Computer Science and Engineering, and the Artificial Intelligence and Decision Making major didn’t even exist. In the same year, there were 100 fewer students majoring in Mathematics, and about as many students were pursuing Mechanical Engineering.

What this tells us is that MIT’s majors evolve with the times more rapidly than at probably any other university. They add programs to address emerging technologies, and students shift their focus based on both what is most exciting in the moment and what presents the strongest possible future. That is totally cool once you are into MIT, but the statistics suggest that applying with an Artificial Intelligence degree top of mind isn’t the best idea right now. Below, we give you five alternatives to the top five majors that will increase your odds of admissions without limiting your options.

Getting into an exceptional school requires strong strategy. Get yours here.

The numbers at MIT don’t lie. They offer dozens of majors, but most programs have only a few dozen students – . You need to apply in a way that is authentic to your interests and how you have spent your time in the lead up to writing your application, but you also need to think critically about how best to put that on paper. So, let’s dive into some options that could open up opportunities. 

Instead of Computer Science and Engineering, do Computer Science, Economics, and Data Science

is the most iconic and the most popular MIT major by a long-shot. It’s a tech school full of tech junkies, and for the last half century that has revolved nearly entirely around computers. Computer Science is the quickest and most direct way into the field. We recommend taking a slightly different approach on your application, though.

If you are applying to MIT, you have stellar grades across the board, which means we can emphasize something parallel to your obsession with computer science. The major is a perfect match for this strategy.

To pursue this alternative approach, keep doing everything you are already doing to emphasize your Computer Science skills. Then, add an economics course (if available) and an economics club or related extracurricular that will underline that you are actually interested in the field. Even if you don’t have time to add a club or course, you can make this major switch work for you by emphasizing the role of the social sciences and quantitative humanities in your life academically and personally. How does economics impact how you view the world, alongside your computer science work? Answer that, and your application will sing.  

Instead of Mathematics, do Mathematics with Computer Science

is another of the top majors at MIT that a ton of students pursue — like a massive number. At any given lunch table, there is probably a math major present. MIT offers a few different variations on the Math major, and we generally prefer aiming for anything that is more than just math on the application. By selecting something that is Math-plus, you are adding a layer of consideration to your application, and giving yourself another pillar to build the argument for your acceptance on.

You don’t want to choose Math, though, simply because it sounds like it may be less competitive or because you think it would be impressive. If your application sounds inauthentic or like you are forcing an interest where one doesn’t truly exist, you are shooting yourself in the foot. This is why we like the program as an alternative to a straight Math major.

Many students applying to MIT for math are already also interested in computer science. It may not be their main focus, but they are interfacing with it in some way and for some reason that connects to that mathematics core. Telling the story of this link for you is a crucial to pulling off this major on your application, but it can have a big impact if you do it right.

Instead of Artificial Intelligence and Decision Making, do Computation and Cognition 

As we laid out statistically, and as you know intrinsically simply by existing in this moment, you know that artificial intelligence is the conversation of the moment. Not simply the conversation in tech, either, as it’s dominating the international dialog. It makes sense, then, that the rather new major at MIT is skyrocketing in popularity. No, it may not be the #1 major at MIT yet, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it became the top major fairly soon.

Demand is way higher than MIT can accommodate, and most students who apply with this major on their application will be rejected. Not because they wouldn’t thrive at MIT, but because MIT needs students to fill all of their majors, not just the AI-centric one. This is why we encourage students to choose on their application instead.

The Computation and Cognition majors has similarities with Artificial Intelligence and Decision Making, but approaches computer science through the power of the human mind, rather than the power of a fake one. Students within the major take courses in neuroscience, cognitive science, statistics, and, yes, AI. So, it’s an AI-adjacent major without an AI name, and that means far fewer students are selecting it on their application. This is win for you.

Instead of Mechanical Engineering, B.S., do Materials Science and Engineering

is for students who want to build things. Not virtual things or intangible things, but physical things. If you are interested in mechanical engineering, you’ve probably been building things for a while. You may be in a robotics club, love tinkering on cars, and even build tools for making your daily life easier (automatic breakfast maker, anyone?).

The problem with the Mechanical Engineering major, though, is that nearly anyone who likes making things that they can pick up and play with ends up picking it as a top option at MIT. This it simply too many people for too few spots. This is why we point people who like tinkering towards a major that examines the world on a more molecular scale — literally.  

The major empowers students to explore the world on an atomic level. Students learn how to turn tiny building blocks, literally atoms and molecules, into novel materials that shape our world. They don’t expect you to have already been doing this, so keep doing what you are doing as a Mechanical Engineering-minded student while immersing yourself in materials science literature and possibly assisting a researcher in a local lab.

Instead of Mechanical Engineering, B.S. (), do Mechanical and Ocean Engineering

Okay, so this one is a bit of a cheat. It’s still Mechanical Engineering, but the major is so popular at MIT that they have a few difference versions of it — two of which are in the top five majors at the university. Everything we’ve already said about mechanical engineering still applies here, with one difference: the approach.

If students are interested in the Mechanical Engineering 2-A major, we point them towards the option as an alternative on their applications. Similarly for the previous major, they don’t expect you to already be doing oceanic work, but they most certainly expect you to be getting your hands dirty in something engineering-centric. You should be building things, breaking things, and then building them again.

Alongside this, you need to be showing real interest in ocean engineering breakthroughs and other big moments in the field. You can do this through research, an internship, or a mix of the two!

If you are set on pursuing the more competitive of the majors, you need a strong strategy for standing out from the glut of applicants vying for only a few seats. They most crucial piece of the strategy must be actually doing work in the ‘field’ outside of organized coursework, school extracurriculars, or camps. MIT wants to see you coloring outside of the lines and creating opportunities for yourself that didn’t exist otherwise.

Whatever major you pick for your MIT application, we also recommend adding a humanities major or minor as a secondary area of interest. Then, you need to really sell it. Your grades are already strong across the board, but if you are going to put a language minor on your application for your humanities tie-in, you need to be taking the highest level offered in that language in your school. This logic applies to anything in the humanities. If you aren’t truly pursuing it — and excelling in it — as a secondary passion alongside your STEM work, they won’t buy it.

The key, here, is combining strong strategy with clear actions. When we work with students, we help them in crafting plans that are unique to them and that set them up for the most likely path to success in applying to MIT. It’s a combination, of course, of what you do to prepare to apply, what you select as an applicant, and how you tell your story. No piece of this triangle can be left out if you want to succeed. To build your plan, get in touch. 

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No matter how you got here, once the thought gets into your mind, it tends to stick. Maybe your classes aren’t as challenging as you expected. Maybe you’re not finding the kind of academic conversations you thought you would. Or maybe the admissions process didn’t go your way, and Princeton is still sitting there in the back of your head like an unresolved issue.

If you’re thinking about transferring, you’re not alone. At TKG, we actually like the transfer path when it’s done well. Several of our counselors transferred, and we’ve helped many students pull it off successfully.

But – and this is important – transferring to a place like Princeton is not something you “see how it goes.” It requires serious planning and strategy.

Princeton Transfer Stats

Looking at the numbers, we learn two things: Princeton does accept transfer students. It also accepts very few of them, despite Princeton’s that they were ramping up transfer admission.

Every year, a large pool of applicants competes for a small number of spots, and the acceptance rate ends up in the low single digits. Some years, it’s especially tight depending on how many seats actually open up. This past cycle, 2,274 students applied to transfer, and only 42 of those students were accepted. That brings us to a grand total acceptance rate of 1.8%. Yeesh.

Now remember, with this group, you’re competing against students who are already doing well in college, already involved, and often already building impressive academic or extracurricular profiles.

So your goal is not to look “qualified,” because that’s the baseline. Your goal is to look like someone whose trajectory clearly points toward Princeton.

Choosing The Right College

If you’re already thinking about transferring, your freshman college matters more than you think.

This is where Princeton decides what kind of student you are in practice – not based on potential, not based on high school, but based on what you actually do when no one is structuring your time for you. Nothing proves you’ll be good at college more than well, being good at college.

Before you commit anywhere, there are three questions worth asking.

Does this college have what I want to study?

Princeton is a serious academic environment. If your freshman year ends up being a collection of easy classes and minimal effort, that’s going to show (negatively).

If you don’t have a major yet, we recommend figuring it out ASAP. You don’t need your entire life plan figured out, but you should be moving in a direction. Take classes that are genuinely difficult. Engage with material that requires real thinking.

If you’re heading toward something competitive – economics, public policy, pre-med, anything quant-heavy – you need to be intentional about how you build that profile. Or better yet, target some more niche majors at Princeton that won’t have you competing against the best of the best business majors.

Does this college have extracurricular opportunities I want to explore?

Princeton students are not passive. They write, research, debate, build, organize, and generally make things happen. Your freshman college should give you access to that kind of involvement. Can you join a research project? Work with a professor? Contribute to a publication? Start something? Lead something?

You need to get involved so you have something to talk about on your apps, but also because you need tp build community at your school in case things don’t work out.

Could I be happy here for four years if I don’t get in as a transfer somewhere?

This is the least exciting question, but probably the most important. Look, transferring to Princeton is hard. Very hard. Even strong applicants get turned away because there just aren’t enough spots.

So before you enroll somewhere, ask yourself: if I stay here for four years, will I be okay? If the answer is no, you’re setting yourself up for a pretty miserable freshman year. If your answer is yes, then you can proceed in this process with a clear head and clear goals.

Reassess Your First Year Applications

If you’re planning to transfer, you need to be honest about what happened the first time around, especially if you applied to Ivy League schools with no success. Why didn’t Princeton work out?

Maybe your grades were strong but not exceptional. Maybe your essays sounded polished, but didn’t actually say much. Maybe your activities were impressive individually, but didn’t add up to a clear narrative.

Whatever it was, you need to identify it. The transfer process is not a clean slate, it’s the same evaluation, just with more data and less opportunity. Remember that your high school record is still part of that data. Princeton will still see your transcript, your test scores, your coursework. Strong college grades help, but they don’t erase earlier weaknesses. If academics were the issue, your freshman transcript needs to be extremely strong to even have a fighting chance.

Understand the Expectations

Let’s not overcomplicate this part: Princeton expects excellent academics. Not “pretty good.” Not “I had one rough semester.” Excellent. Students admitted as first-years usually have near-perfect grades in challenging coursework. As a transfer applicant, you’re being compared to that same group – plus you now have college performance on your record. All As are the minimum.

Princeton also requires you to submit test scores. Their middle-50 data from last cycle was a 1510-1570 on the SAT and a 34-35 on the ACT. If your scores aren’t at the top of these ranges, it’s time to retake those bad boys.

Enroll in the Right Classes

Another key part of this process? Your transcript should make sense. If you say you’re interested in a field, your classes should reflect that, because if your schedule looks random, that creates a problem. Princeton values intellectual curiosity, but they also value direction.

Use your current school’s core requirements strategically. Choose classes that build skills, deepen your interests, or help you figure out what you actually want to study. If you’re undecided, that’s fine. But your job is to become less undecided over time – especially before applying to Princeton.

We also often recommend taking a heavier course load if you can manage it. Most schools consider 15–16 credits standard. Taking an extra class can signal academic stamina. And if it’s too much, drop it early. That’s what add/drop is for!

Develop Your Extracurriculars

Your transfer application is not about what you did in high school, it’s about what you’ve done since arriving at college. You no longer need ten activities! You need a few that actually matter, and no, high school activities shouldn’t be on the list.

It doesn’t matter what you choose, just engage in it deeply: research, writing, student government, service work, campus jobs, or independent projects. Ask yourself, are you showing initiative? Are you doing something with your time that isn’t required?

Princeton is not especially impressed by passive participation; they’re looking for students who engage. Which brings us to our next section:

Get Involved!

Every campus has the same deal at the beginning of the semester: big involvement fair, lots of sign-ups, very little follow-through. Don’t be that person! Follow through!!

Pick a few things you actually care about and commit to them. Some should align with your academic interests. Others can just be things you enjoy, both are valuable (and fun!).

There are two big benefits here. First, you build an actual life at your current school, which you’ll appreciate if you stay. Second, you create experiences you can write about later. And those experiences matter a lot more than vague claims about leadership or passion.

A brief aside, please go to office hours. You will need recommendation letters. Professors cannot write strong letters for students they don’t know. This is one of the easiest ways to fix that. Plus, going to office hours (especially for hard classes) can pay off grade-wise.

Make a Smart List

Applying only to Princeton is not a strategy. It’s blind optimism. It’s cool you’re glass-half-full and all, but it’s also not a plan.

Transfer admissions are unpredictable, and Princeton’s small number of available seats makes it even more so. You don’t control how many spots exist in a given year but you do control where you apply.

At TKG, we like building lists that include both reach schools and strong, realistic options. Princeton can absolutely be on that list—but it should not be the entire list. Schools like Michigan, NYU, Boston University, Northeastern, Notre Dame, Tulane, UNC Chapel Hill, USC, UT Austin, UVA, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, and Wesleyan often make sense depending on your profile.

Before you get bowed up, we’re not saying the goal is to “settle,” because you should only be applying to schools you’d be happier at than your current school.

Write Great Transfer Essays

Princeton has a ton of essays, and they tell us a lot about what Princeton values:

Princeton wants you to get specific about why you should go to their school, and then they want to hear a lot about your community involvement and more about you as a person.

The fact that Princeton asks about community twice, and wants nearly 750 words total, should be a sign to you that this is really important to them. If you don’t have many examples of community, or don’t have much to point to on your resume, then Princeton may not be a perfect fit for you. 

Conclusion

Transferring to Princeton is hard, there’s no clever way around that or shortcut to guarantee yourself admission. You just have to work hard, build something real (academically, intellectually, and personally), and find a passion to pursue.

Here’s the upside: all of that work pays off no matter what. If Princeton happens, great. You’re ready for it. If it doesn’t, you’re still in a much stronger position than you were a year earlier – better grades, clearer direction, stronger relationships, more meaningful experiences.

If you’re thinking seriously about transferring, don’t approach it passively. Build a plan, execute it well, and give yourself the best possible shot. And if you want help doing that, we’re here. You’ve got this.

Strategizing a transfer to an Ivy League school is challenging, and the transfer process itself can be daunting. Let us help you manage that process – reach out to us today to get started.

We’re not trying to fearmonger; we just want you to understand your goal here and why it’s so important that you get it right! You’re not trying to brag or sound intimidating; you’re trying to come across as an interesting, thoughtful individual with real, relatable feelings. In this essay, you should be genuine, and you should be yourself.

That’s why we actually like Prompt #6 quite a bit! We’ve shouted our love for Prompt #7 from the rooftops (and it is our favorite), but this option is a close second. Prompt #7 allows for the ultimate freedom to dance to the beat of your own drum, but it’s not right for everybody, and if you crave a bit more structure, Prompt #6 might be just the thing for providing some parameters while still giving you leeway to get creative. So that’s enough preamble, we think — what is Prompt #6?

Common App Prompt #6

Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

Our Assessment

In our opinion, this is a fun one! It sets an upbeat tone by giving you a chance to talk about something that really excites you, and that kind of energy is contagious. You can be authentic, personal, passionate, and even entertaining in an essay like this! There’s one major caveat, though: you should write about something unexpected.

By unexpected, we don’t mean a new branch of quantum physics no one has ever heard of before; obviously that’s a ridiculous standard. What we do mean, however, is that the subject of your essay should introduce new information and show a side of you that doesn’t appear elsewhere on the Common App. TL;DR: do not write about your future major. 

This advice surprises some people, but the logic behind this rule is actually pretty straightforward. Focusing on your primary academic interest in the personal statement is at best a bit obvious and repetitive, and at worst it can appear unimaginative or calculated.

How so? Isn’t it good to seem ambitious and intellectually driven? Well, sure. BUT.

You’ll have a chance in individual school supplements to elaborate on your intended major — how you discovered your passion for the field and what you’d like to use your college education in that academic track to achieve. Your grades and activities will also testify to your prior involvement with and aptitude for this area of study, so writing about this particular interest in your Common App essay has two disadvantages.

The first is that you’re wasting space by telling admissions officers what they already know from the other materials in your application. The second is that you ������’t even get as specific in the personal statement as you can in supplements, which allow you to weave in details demonstrating why a particular university or program would be a great fit for you. Your Common App essay goes to every school you apply to through the platform, which is why it has to work on a general level and should focus on personality and character above all.

And, on that note, you want to come off as somebody your reader would like to know. We promise, your transcript does the work of proving you’re “impressive.” Doubling down on your achievements or main academic pursuits here can appear robotic, as if you’re presenting what you think colleges want to see rather than who you really are. But your readers are real people, and they aren’t likely to get emotionally invested in an applicant who writes as if they came out of the womb in a cap and gown ready to give their valedictory speech. Branching out into new territory reveals who you are beyond a piece of paper — someone unique, believable, and personable that readers can really cheer on and advocate for.

How to Do It Right

So, that’s the one thing you ������’t write about. Luckily, that leaves every other topic under the sun. We’re so serious. The world is your freaking oyster!!!

The best way to approach Prompt #6 (or any Common App essay topic) is by telling a story. That allows you to ground your statement with a beginning, middle, and end; you will have concrete details for the reader to hold onto in the plot that will deepen the emotional impact of your overall message rather than veering into philosophical or explanatory writing. This prompt can tempt you to get abstract by focusing on “a topic, idea, or concept,” but remember that ultimately that your writing should be personal and interesting (not cerebral, dry, or informative).

If you’re not quite sure how to go about picking this story, think about the personality trait you’d like to get across that might not otherwise come up in your application. What is something you like about yourself or that seems central to your relationships with friends and family? Maybe you’d like to study aerospace engineering and you’ve realized that most people have preconceptions that you’re serious and competitive because your aspirational career quite literally is rocket science. Well, this essay would be a great way to set the record straight that you’re actually goofy a lot of the time and spend your free time binging the early stand-up sets of now-famous comedians.

That’s the kind of contrast that gives your profile depth, and that’s really all we mean by unexpected. If you’re not sure what your personal version of the NASA vs. SNL dichotomy is, walk through these questions to kick off your brainstorming process:

• Do you have any favorite things or fascinations that might seem “off-brand” to other people? Why do you think that is? What do you like about it?

• Do you have a hobby that you pursue just for yourself? Not for any achievement or recognition, but just because you enjoy it? What makes it so enjoyable? What value does it bring to your life in the absence of ambition?

• Have you ever learned a surprising piece of information or a fun fact that sent you down a complete rabbit hole? What did you find strange or captivating about it? Why did you want to know more?

Explore your memories, jot down notes on what comes to mind, and pay attention to when you get carried away by something that interests you or feel that you’ve got a lot more you could say. At that point, you’ve found your topic!

Getting to Your First Draft

If you’re the kind of person who works from a roadmap and has no problem getting started, you can complete an outline and turn it into a first draft. If you’re still unsure where to start, we recommend starting right in the middle of the action to hook your readers with immediate stakes and sensory details. Take us to the moment you were struck by lightning as you encountered this idea or activity for the first time, or set the scene by describing the sights, sounds, and smells you remember from where you were on that day. Alternately, can you start by writing the middle of your story and come back to the introduction when you know more about the body of your essay and what exactly it is you want to introduce.

Anything goes for getting it onto the page! When you’ve finished a rough draft, take some space from it. Take a breath, take a walk, maybe even take a day or two before returning to it with fresh eyes. Read it for yourself and make notes of any major revisions you think your personal statement needs. Does the story make sense, or do you need to clarify with an additional paragraph or smoother transitions? Do you have a paragraph that provides unnecessary information or distracts from the throughline? Do you need to make your conclusion more coherent and emotionally resonant? Wonderful — go through your list and start tackling those structural and thematic edits. If your essay is too long, make cuts to bring it down to the word count at this stage. 

Once you’ve done that, you’re on to polishing — looking out for grammar, voice, and style. Read your essay aloud to hear if there are awkward passages, if phrasing sounds off anywhere, if your pace drags, or if you lack sentence-length variation. You’ll go through a few rounds like this to make corrections on the sentence level and smooth everything out.

And you’re nearly there! You should show your statement to a trusted editor — two people, max — to get an outside perspective without soliciting too many differing opinions. Once you’ve made final adjustments, you’ve got your Common App essay down, and you’re ready to roll. See? That wasn’t so hard!

When it comes to Prompt #6, you ������’t go wrong if you remember these instructions: have fun with your response, avoid subjects that show up in your other application materials, and make sure to tell a story that reveals something new and unique about yourself. We won’t say “easy peasy lemon squeezey,” because we know you’ve got a lot at stake in this, but we will say “doable doable you are strong and capable and you can do this.” Period!

Not sure where to start with the Common App essay? Reach out to us today for professional guidance with proven results.

The low acceptance rate at Dartmouth, while intimidating nationally, is also one of the highest acceptance rates in the Ivy League. This means that Dartmouth draws some applicants who are qualified and competitive, but more interested in the status Dartmouth offers than the actual offerings of the College.  

Whether you want to go to Dartmouth because you’ve dreamed of Winter Carnival for years or also (or even mostly) because you want an Ivy League diploma, we can help. The key is a strong strategy, and, in this post, we’ll break down your best avenue for admissions to Dartmouth (hint: it’s applying early).

What Are My Application Options?

Dartmouth offers two avenues for admission to first-year applicants. A small number of students are admitted through the Quest Bridge program, but most are admitted via either Regular Decision or Early Decision.

Early Decision is Dartmouth’s binding admissions pathway, which means that you are committed to attend if admitted. It also offers a student their highest chance of getting in if they are already a competitive applicant. That last bit is extremely important. Applying early doesn’t make up for anything, but it can give your application and extra boost.

In this post, we’ll break down how to make the most of the Early Decision option at Dartmouth to increase your chances of getting into a dream school.  

We help driven students reach outstanding outcomes. Learn more here.

Why Should I Apply Early Decision To Dartmouth?

Dartmouth to share their early decision acceptance rate for 2026 (sus!), but we know that applying early is the best way to improve your chance of getting in. It’s actually helpful, too, that they don’t share the precise ED acceptance rate, because it would most definitely only offer a partial view of reality. The ED acceptance rate is heavily spiked by athletic recruitment, legacies, and development cases.

Legacy, in particular, is a meaningful part of the Dartmouth admissions strategy. 11% of the Class of 2029 are , and the best way to get that legacy admissions advantage is through early admission. If you do not apply early and are a legacy, you are basically throwing any boost the legacy would have given you out in the trash.  

If you aren’t a legacy, applying ED is even more important if Dartmouth is your dream school.  

What Can You Do?

The best way to make the most of applying Early Decision to Dartmouth is to start creating your application package years in advance of pressing submit. The rules we break down below can apply for nearly any top school, so while we have tweaked them to be particularly relevant to Dartmouth you don’t need to be 100% sure that you will be applying ED to Dartmouth to start putting this protocol in place.

Now, this is what you need to do to prepare a compelling ED application to Dartmouth.  

Grades

It should not come as a shock to you that Dartmouth expects to see an exceptional transcript from any applicant who they will seriously take into consideration. Nearly all, , of students admitted early to the Class of 2030 reported being in the top 10% of their high school class. One year earlier, of enrolled first-years for the Class of 2029 were named valedictorian or salutatorian, and 95% were in the top 10% of their class. The statistics don’t lie. Grades matter a lot for Dartmouth admissions, and applying Early Decision doesn’t change that nor give wiggle room for a lower GPA.

Not only do they want to see exceptional grades, though, but they also expect them it be in the hardest classes you have access to. Taking easier courses to ensure an A will not lead to a Harvard acceptance. What impresses Harvard academically is more than a high unweighted GPA, it’s evidence of a challenge. They want to see you pushing yourself, and it is much better to face challenge and receive a slightly lower grade than to receive a 100 in a course that doesn’t illustrate what you are capable of.

Scores

After a few years trying out a test-optional policy due to COVID, and informed by data and research, Dartmouth reinstated their stringent testing requirements. Today, Dartmouth requires standardized tests, and the university believes firmly in the helpfulness of standardized tests in assessing college readiness. Given how much they believe in testing, the admissions officers expect the scores to be exceptional. For the Class of 2030, 93% SAT or ACT scores in the top 25% of their high school.

Of course, there are students applying to Dartmouth from thousands of different high schools, so ranking high in their school may not correlate to a Dartmouth-caliber score. Instead, give yourself a number to chase. Aim for an SAT of 34 or higher, or an SAT of 1500 or higher. Of course, the higher the better.

Extracurriculars

For Dartmouth, the extracurriculars are as important for emphasizing your interests as they are for underlining why you are such a strong fit for the Dartmouth community. This isn’t to say that you need to be camping on the weekends and skiing all winter, but they do want to see you doing things that prioritize community. Dartmouth looks for students who contribute to something greater than themselves, and the teams, clubs, and organizations that you are part of in high school is the best way to illustrate the long-term commitment you have to something bigger than you.

At the same time, they want to see leadership. You ������’t bet on all that leadership happening senior year, though. Yes, it’s pretty standard with school clubs and teams for a stand-out student to become a head or captain as a senior. The problem, though, is that you’ll be submitting your application in the fall of senior year without the time to put your plans into action. You’ll have the title to put in your activities section, but not many stories to tell.  

This is why we work with our students to attain leadership roles in 11th grade such that they can development into the leadership role well in advance of submitting their Early Decision applications. 

Essays

Dartmouth is very distinct. Whereas most of the Ivy League is urban, Dartmouth is decidedly not that. Hanover, New Hampshire has a population of less than 10,000. A large percentage of students at Dartmouth enjoy time in the outdoors, whether it’s through hiking, skiing, climbing, or nearly any other outdoor sport.

It is extremely important to Dartmouth that applicants love this about the school and community. They work hard to filter out applicants who appear to simply be fishing for an Ivy League acceptance, and the essays play a crucial role for admissions officials as they assess the legitimacy of an applicant’s interest in the school. For example, Dartmouth that “one-in-three admitted students cited a desire to be a part of a Dartmouth culture that values dialogue and free expression” in response to the “Why Dartmouth?” prompt. Other themes that they highlighted as playing a strong role in the applications of accepted applicants were “the value of Dartmouth’s strong community and the rural location.”

This shows how the essays are the most important place to emphasize your authentic interest in Dartmouth while also highlighting the ways in which you are already currently living out Dartmouth’s values by building and supporting community, striving academically, and pursuing passions with great enthusiasm.

In an article about early acceptances to the Class of 2030, the Dean of Undergraduate Admissions that “Many cited the specific academic work of our faculty and said they were eager to experience the close relationships in the classroom that are a hallmark of our campus.” Hear this, and take it seriously. Parallel to doing work that creates stories that Dartmouth will be excited to hear, you need to get to know what is happening on campus so that you can write about it specifically, connecting what happens at Dartmouth to your deepest interests.

Apply Early

This whole post is about applying early (we are very good at getting kids into Dartmouth ED), so this should be obvious, but it bears repeating: press submit. You want to do as much prep work as possible far in advance of the Early Decision deadline so that when it finally comes around you are more than ready to submit your application.

If your Early Decision application is ultimately deferred, that is not a soft ‘no’ from Dartmouth. You do still have a chance of getting into Dartmouth, and the numbers prove it. Historically, of deferred Early Decision applicants to Dartmouth are admitted in the regular decision round. This exceeds the overall acceptance rate, so deferred applicants still benefit from an ED boost, even though they weren’t accepted initially.

If you want your best chance of getting into Dartmouth, we can help. Contact us to Learn more.

The university is also a land grant college in the State of New York, so while it is not part of the SUNY system, they do give strong preference to New York-based applicants to particular programs. The programs for which New Yorkers receive preferential consideration are the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Human Ecology, the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and the College of Veterinary Medicine.  

Because of its “kinda” status as a state school, assessing the acceptance rate for Cornell can be a bit tricky. There is the , and then there are the unpublished numbers around in-state vs. out-of-state acceptances. Using the published numbers, the Early Decision acceptance rate for students enrolling in the fall of 2024 was 11.6%, while the overall acceptance rate was 9.3%. The following year, for the fall of 2025, the overall acceptance rate was .

When deciding where you want to go within Cornell, it is critically important that you pick not only the right major, but also the right college. Once at Cornell, it is extremely difficult to switch colleges. This isn’t a matter of complicated paperwork and perseverance. Rather, they don’t want people switching schools, so often they simply will not let you. Given the importance of getting into the right program for you at Cornell, you first need to .

If we look at Cornell in a college agnostic way, though, or through a very zoomed out lens, we know that there are a few programs that are incredibly popular — and problematic to aim for as a first-year applicant. There are simply so many students trying to get into these specific programs that putting one of them down on your application automatically throws you into a pool full of sharks. Even with perfect grades, stellar scores, and outstanding extracurriculars, you’ll be struggling just to tread water. These programs are:

• Computer Science

• Biological Sciences

• Engineering

• Hospitality & Tourism Management

• Applied Economics & Management

In this post, we will break down five alternatives to the most popular majors at Cornell. We have chosen each of these alternative programs because a strong application for them requires and works with the same academic and extracurricular pursuits you have been developing already. Rather than your hard work being a waste, it’s even more of an asset now.  

Getting into Cornell requires a strong and personalized strategy. Get yours here.  

The five most popular majors at Cornell are practical and highly career-oriented. Each program is very much true to the Cornell ethos of pursuing knowledge with purpose and drive towards the future. As we break each down, you will notice that the importance of showing drive, purpose, and commitment is massive. This isn’t just picking a major, it’s picking a path.

Instead of Computer Science, do Statistical Science

At Cornell, Computer Science is housed within , the College of Computing + Information Science. At Bowers, they offer both a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science. Both are fabulous programs, but it’s hard to stand out as an applicant unless you have done work in computer science already that goes far beyond what is simply offered through schools. You need to have built something that impacts others, interned at a major firm for at least a month (ideally a few months), and worked with other students in a collaborative way. Even if you do all those things, computer science is such a competitive program that you may only appear to be a decent applicant, rather than an exceptional one.

We advise our students who are struggling to stand out as computer science applicants to consider the Bachelor of Arts in . The Statistical Science program is also within Bowers and in collaboration with the College of Arts and Sciences, but fewer first-year applicants pick it on their applications simply because they don’t know what it really is. It sounds on its face like a math major, but it’s so much more than that. The Statistical Science major runs alongside computer sciences, training students to be in key decision-making roles around Artificial Intelligence and other emerging technologies.

Prepare for the application by taking the hardest math courses that you have access to, and then some. Add in a course or two from accredited local schools, tutor other (especially younger) students through a tutoring provider or by starting your own tutoring business, and definitely work for a local summer program or science and technology museum that offers students access to high level math and STEM.

Instead of Biological Sciences (CAS), do Biological Sciences (CALS)

The Biological Sciences major at Cornell exists in two places, but . Students can pursue the major through the College of Arts and Sciences, or through the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Again, it’s the same major. When you apply to Cornell, though, you need to pick the college you want to be in: CALS or CAS.  

Most students pick the College of Arts and Sciences because it offers the most flexibility academically. It also sounds more like an Ivy League program to many first-year applicants, as silly as that may seem. We are consistently astonished by how many students don’t want to apply to CALS simply because of the word “agriculture” in the name. “But I don’t want to be a farmer,” the argument goes. We challenge you to learn more about CALS though, because it’s about so much more than farming and it comes with some major boosts. 

First, CALS is less competitive admissions-wise. So that makes it a great choice regardless of where you are applying from. However, if you are a resident of New York, applying to CALS gives your application a significant leg-up. Remember that CALS is part of the New York Land Grant relationship between Cornell and the State, so New York applicants are given preference.

Applying to CALS does mean that you are committing to a smaller number of major options, so you only want to do this if you are sure of your path. Students to pick from one of 13 concentrations. These concentrations can be used to set you up for medical school, veterinary school, research, field work, and so much more.

Instead of Electrical and Computer Engineering, do Earth and Climate Sciences

Cornell offers a mountain of engineering options through . One of the most popular for first-year applicants is Electrical and Computer Engineering, and it is an amazing program. However, it isn’t the most strategic major to pick if you want to go to Duffield.

Appearing as a strong major requires all the normal things like top grades and scores, but also requires you to have built something already. This ‘something’ doesn’t need to be anything massive, and it doesn’t need to even exist in the world outside of your school, friend group, or community, but there needs to be a record of you building it, working with others in some way, and showing it to other people. For example, it could be a tech tool for your school, but you don’t need to put it on the app store or go on Shark Tank. If you don’t have time to do this, there is something else you should do: pick a different major.

Instead of selecting Electrical and Computer Engineering, pick . The major is within Duffield, still, but takes a very different tack. Applicants are measured on a different graph, and it’s one with more purpose in the mix. When reviewing an application for Earth and Climate Sciences, they want to see a combination of passion and action, and pursuing a project around the impact of climate change, such as sea level rise, wild fires, or drought, on your community can help you stand out by amplifying both your interest and your core values.

Instead of (just) Hotel Administration, add a Minor or Specialization

The program at Nolan is literally the gold standard of undergraduate hospitality education. It especially attracts students who have grown up in or around the hospitality industry, and who want to build a career in it themselves. This means that strong applicants have worked in hotels and restaurants, and they have hands-on experiences and deep passion for the industry before even applying to Cornell. This isn’t just a curiosity, it’s a drive.

One of the hard things with this program, though, is that it’s the only undergraduate major within Nolan. There is no other major to pick. So, you need to get a bit clever. If a student is a strong academic candidate for Cornell and wants to study hospitality, but does not have experience in the field themselves nor the time to gain experience, we advise applying to Nolan with more than just the major in mind.

In your application, you need to really emphasize the specialization or minor for which you have the strongest credentials already, and can build further ones before pressing submit. This could be the marketing specialization (maybe get an internship for a local business), the food & beverage specialization (a summer job as a server is calling your name), or even the real estate minor (a summer working for a contractor or painting company shows hands-on engagement). The most important thing is to pick something that strongly aligns with where you’ve already been investing time and energy such that they aren’t judging you by what you haven’t done yet, but by what you have.

Instead of (just) Applied Economics & Management, add a Minor in Business

The degree in is offered through within the SC Johnson College of Business. Dyson is extremely competitive, but the good news is that, like with hospitality, there are other options within Dyson and the College of Business that offer opportunities to pick a program within the college that matches best with your application.

This is because standing out as an economics and management-focused teenager is sort of hard. It’s even harder to stand out in a good way, as many economics-minded students amplify their studies and extracurriculars in ways that, by mistake, make them seem self-centered and, sadly, quite insufferable. That’s bad, obviously. Getting into Cornell isn’t just about having grades, scores, and awards that exceed their expectations. The admissions officers should want to get a coffee with you after reading your application. They should genuinely like you, not be scared of you.  

One of the best ways to build good will for your application — and yourself — is to in Entrepreneurship or Business. There are so many more ways to stand out in a good way as a business-savvy student with a strong sense of purpose and a desire to give back. Maybe you’ve worked as a tutor, so make it a business and offer free sessions to less privileged families. If you’ve mowed lawns, make it a business and mow the lawns of local elderly residents for free. Find something you are already doing, and make it a business plus add a social good angle.

That social good angle isn’t just a suggestion — it’s really important. So many young people today are building screen-based hustles that may net an income that exceeds any allowance you would get, but that doesn’t connect to application readers on an emotional level. Collector sneakers are not compelling. So, build something that is small, local, and personal, with that social good side, too.

It doesn’t even need to be a registered business, but you should be making money (so file taxes as needed). Recruit a few friends to work with you, and you can speak to teamwork, leadership, passion, and, ideally, purpose through compelling stories that do a lot more for your application than an economics competition does.

As you probably noticed, the level of focus and specialization within each of Cornell’s schools means that there aren’t always clear alternatives for a highly competitive major, but there are routes you can take to increase your odds of admission simply by making a strategic selection on your application. This type of strategy is something we specialize in, and support students through alongside the other pieces of their college applications. A strong essay is great, but if you aren’t submitting it to the right program for you there isn’t much it can do to move the needle.

Whatever you select on your application to Cornell, they will be assessing more than just you. They are also looking for the college equivalent of You can be objectively fabulous on paper, but if they don’t feel that you are a strong fit for the program you have expressed the most interest in, that’s no good. This is why simply picking a less competitive sounding major does not solve the problem of getting into Cornell, either.

Every year, we help students navigate this maze of Cornell admissions to gain acceptance to one of the most prestigious and competitive universities in the country.

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As is tradition, we’ll remind you here that our favorite prompt by far is #7 because it lets you freestyle, and the personal statement is all about leaving an impression. But don’t despair if you’ve given Prompt #7 some thought and decided that the “look ma, no hands!” approach just isn’t for you. All that really matters is that you choose the option that sets you up to succeed in 650 words — that is, to get across in a succinct and entertaining way who you are on a human level beyond a set of activities and academic accomplishments. 

This is the most important part of your application for a variety of reasons. One is that it’s the first essay any admissions officer will read, and it’s also the only essay that goes to every single school on your Common App list of colleges. Your stats and accolades will come through on your transcript and your activities section, and the college-specific supplemental essays you’ll write later on will give you the opportunity to explain your interests, define your undergraduate goals, and demonstrate why you’re a great candidate for one program or another.

Since your bases are covered, you don’t have anything to prove in the personal statement — and in fact, Common App essays that regurgitate your resume not only waste space and come off a bit redundant, they sound robotic and unrelatable. This is your time to shine and show off your personality! As long as you have that goal in mind, you can write a great personal statement in response to any prompt, so let’s get into the dos and don’ts of #5.

Common App Prompt #5

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

Our Assessment

We won’t lie… we’re not super enthusiastic about Prompt #5, because there are a few ways it could lead you astray. Obviously, we understand the stakes of college applications, and we know you’re under immense pressure to make yourself look good. However, what makes you “look good” in your personal statement might look different than you think.

As we previously mentioned, your greatest victories (as they relate to high school) will already be accounted for in your application. If your most meaningful commitment over the last 3.5 years has been the academic decathlon team, you’re obviously going to list your involvement — and the time your squad won nationals — in your activities section and the honors subsection of the education section. The problem is that this prompt can understandably lead some students to believe it’s a good idea to write about the biggest win they’ve experienced because it’s most impressive or noteworthy, but that’s actually not the case. If you go that route, at best you’re wasting your chance to communicate something new about yourself that doesn’t appear anywhere else on your application; at worst, you’re taking a victory lap that can appear braggy or, arguably worse, boring.

Let’s put it this way. If you’re a star student, your academic records and letters of recommendation are all the evidence you need to prove that point. Admissions officers aren’t going to emotionally invest in your journey if your personal statement is just a way of drawing attention to your perfect SAT score; that’s not real, personal, or engaging. You want to write something that makes readers feel they’re getting to know you and that they’d like to get to know you better. That doesn’t mean showing off; it means being authentic, putting your unique point of view into words, telling a good story, and maybe even making your audience laugh.

Another common response is to take your personal statement to the opposite extreme, but we feel really strongly that applicants do not need to write about their trauma to get into college. If you experienced a significant hardship that affected your high school experience, the "Additional Information” section is great because it provides space for you to elaborate on how you were impacted and ensure your application is considered with adequate context. However, we don’t ever want students to feel pressured into writing a personal statement that reduces them to the worst thing they’ve ever experienced or delve into painful memories they’d prefer to keep private. Remember: this is your space, and you have every right to introduce yourself exactly as you’d like to!

How to Do It Right

And on the note of “introducing yourself exactly as you’d like to,” we can get into topics that work now that we’ve covered the common mistakes you should avoid. As always, we advise you to tell a story — it’s the best format for getting a message or “so what” across while keeping details concrete and writing with clarity and entertainment in mind. Luckily, this prompt has a natural story format built in: the beginning is the inciting event, the middle is the direct aftermath and period of personal growth (consider this your personal “Rocky training montage”), and the end is the takeaway or “new understanding of yourself or others” you’ve realized through hindsight.

That all makes sense in theory, of course, but an anecdote that fits these criteria might not immediately come to mind — and that’s ok! Normal, in fact! Don’t worry about feeling a bit daunted; it’s a natural part of the process, and nothing a little brainstorming ������’t fix. Remember: keep it small and specific.

First, think about the character trait in yourself you’d like to highlight with this essay, and then try listing experiences you’ve had that would allow you to illuminate that quality. If you need a little push to get the ball rolling, start by asking yourself open-ended questions like these:

• What is an alternate definition of “accomplishment” in your dictionary? Is there anything you’re proud of that wouldn’t necessarily show up on a resume or brag sheet but that feels personally significant nonetheless?

• Can you think of any clear “before” and “after” moments in your own timeline? Small moments or inflection points that might sound ordinary on the surface but that changed how you saw the world?

• Do you feel like the same person you were freshman year? If not, what’s different? How did those changes develop?

• Do you have any low-stakes goals or surprising ambitions? Have you ever tried to set a personal record? What made you want to pursue those things? What did those achievements represent to you?

Getting to Your First Draft

Once you’ve arrived at your idea, you’re ready to move it from your brain to the page. If you like to work from an outline, sketch one up and expand it into your rough draft. If just the idea of an outline or an official full-length draft makes your creative juices dry up, ease yourself into it with some free-writing. Set a 20-minute timer and write without stopping until the alarm goes off; this keeps you from self-censoring or editing thoughts before you even set them down, and at the end of the exercise you’ll have more writing than expected. Is it polished? No. But you’ll see interesting points you want to expand on, and once you’ve gotten started it’s easier than you expected to keep going.

Your first draft will probably be longer than 650 words, and that’s fine! What matters most is getting the full story down. From there, you can see what’s essential and cull down. At this point, you can make big-picture revisions — finessing transitions, adding material for clarity, removing unnecessary information, enlivening boring passages. Next, we recommend you read your essay aloud, make note of any sections that drag or sound awkward, and make sentence-level edits.

Now you’re ready to show your essay to a small selection of trusted readers — and by “small selection” we mean one or two editors, max. Too much advice from too many people with differing opinions can be overwhelming and ultimately counterproductive, so leave it with a person or two who understands you and can provide useful feedback. With a few more rounds of revision on your own, you’re at the finish line!

You can write a great personal statement in response to Prompt #5. Just remember: tell a story that doesn’t appear anywhere else in your application, think small, and be yourself (with style!).

Looking for expert advice on your Common App essay? Contact us for professional guidance that gets results.

The acceptance rate for the Class of 2029 was a slight uptick, likely related to the decrease in applications that followed the reinstatement of the standardized testing requirement following four years of a Covid test-optional policy. This slight increase in acceptance rate was experienced across the Ivy League, as students face whether their scores measured up to Ivy expectations, discouraging applicants who were the least likely to get in based on academic outcomes.

Yale offers over 80 majors, and most students at Yale in the social sciences, humanities, and the arts. Those two sectors of the university, though, are also the places that hold the largest portion of the majors Yale offers. So, even while most students are studying the humanities, that doesn’t mean that every humanities major is popular. Engineering has a portion of students (270 of 2,199 in 2025), but they are also divided among a much smaller number of programs.

And then there are the super specialized majors, like Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (that’s all one major, to be clear) which has averaged 3 or 4 students over the past decade. That may make it look from the outside like an easier program to get into, but it can also actually mean that they are super particular when assessing an applicant expressing interest in the program. If the application is not saturated with proof of that interest, it starts to smell fishy. 

What we are getting at here, is that a strong application to Yale requires strategy every step of the way, and that includes in what major you pick to put as your primary interest on your application. Ultimately, the five majors with the most graduating students , so the 5 most popular majors and also 5 of the most competitive majors for first-year applicants, are:

1. Economics

2. History

3. Political Science

4. Computer Science

5. Molecular, Cellular, & Developmental Biology

So, when you think about how you are going to frame your application to Yale, you need to account for two things:

1. Who you are.

2. Where you can make the best case for fitting into Yale.

In the end, where you would best fit in at Yale isn’t always the major you always thought you’d put down on your application. That’s okay, as you aren’t committed to a major, yet. This is about getting in, and picking a program that accounts for both #1 and #2 can turn Yale from a long-shot to a much more likely positive outcome. Below, we’ll break down more strategic major alternatives if you are aiming for a top program at Yale and what you need to be doing to sell the switch.

We help driven students craft acceptance-earning applications. Learn more here.

When you are picking a major at Yale from a strategic perspective, one of the most important things to keep front in center is that your choice must be authentic to you. Back when we were applying to college (not that long ago, honestly, but feels like light years ago) the running joke was that boys should apply as Women’s Studies majors so get into hard-to-reach schools. That was terrible advice then, and it is just as horrible today. Picking a major that you think will look good on your app in isolation is not the same as creating a compelling pitch for yourself as an applicant.

Instead, you need the major to reinforce what your transcript and activities say about you while stretching yourself towards greater goals. Here are the top five majors, and the better choices that — with the right plan — do just that.

Instead of Economics, do Psychology        

Economics is, by far, the most popular major at Yale. A strong reason for this is that most graduates holding an economics degree aren’t becoming economists. Instead, they are going into business, banking, consulting, and other big-money high-starting salary positions at famous brand name firms. The problem with the major isn’t anything about the major itself, but really just the popularity and the difficulty differentiating yourself as an applicant interested in economics.

Let’s be honest. Economics is sort of boring. Students who are passionate about economics are not necessarily boring, but listening to them talk about how cool economics is rarely strikes a spark. This is why we really like pointing students who are interested in economics towards a prospective major at Yale in .  

Some students who major in psychology go on to be shrinks, sure, but psychology majors also go to work for many of the big businesses that economics majors are drawn towards. Knowledge of psychology is applicable to consulting, organizational management, entrepreneurship, marketing, and more. So, instead of writing your application about how you want to help individuals talk through their issues, write about how you want to shape entire organizations using the principles of psychology. This is more interesting, inspiring, and fun to read about than an essay on Econ, and you don’t need to do much in advance of applying beyond adding a psychology elective if one is available to you.  

Instead of History, do a Specialized History Major

is a big and general major, which is part of why it is so big. We find that a much more compelling and personalized application is more focused. By zooming in on a specific area of study within the history field, you illuminate your interests and underline your passions. Which program you pick really depends on where your passions are most firmly rooted.

There are a multitude of region, culture, and topic specific areas of study at Yale, including , , and the h. Picking any more specific program at Yale makes you a more compelling applicant because it shows a development of specific area of interest. This must, however, be paired with proof of interest through extracurriculars, additional courses, internships, research positions, or even a summer job at a relevant historic site or museum.

If you have time to add courses to your transcript that will underline your interest in the area of study focused on in the major, awesome. If time isn’t on your side, storytelling becomes crucial. In your application essays, it will be exceptionally important that you write authentically about your interest in your prospective major. We can help.  

Instead of Political Science, do Ethics, Politics, and Economics

The major at Yale is a grab-bag of politics, policy, international relations, and government. It combines grappling with current events and diving into political philosophy. It’s qualitative and quantitative, and it attracts a lot of super high-performing students who want to go into the political realm, from running for office to making moves behind the scenes. This means that there are students putting this major down on their applications who have already run for office, who have already led a campaign, and who are already making serious waves.  

Maybe that describes you. If it does, putting Political Science down on your application may make sense. But for most applicants who are at the very top of their class, passionate about politics, leading relevant extracurriculars at school, and maybe doing a politics internship, standing out as a poly sci major against those insanely stacked applications is nearly impossible. So, you need to play some different cards.  

This is why we point students towards the program in . There are a lot of similarities between the Political Science and the Ethics, Politics, and Economics (EP&E) majors. But while Political Science skews towards government and international relations, EP&E bends in the direction of philosophy. If you love writing, are a big thinker, and want to have your hands in the mess of things, this makes EP&E a perfect fit for you. Strengthen your application by completing (and publishing!) independent research, finding an internship with a campaign (but focused on the strategists more than the candidate), and add a relevant class to your schedule for next year.  

Instead of Computer Science, do Computer Science and Psychology

The world of is changing rapidly. For many years, high school seniors were sold a comp sci degree as a ticket to a six-figure starting salary. That is shifting at a pace that is scary fast. There are fewer jobs for junior coders, those just out of college, and working way up to the top of the pyramid is hard when you ������’t even get a grip on the ladder. This doesn’t mean that computer science is dead — it doesn’t mean that at all — but it does mean that you need to think about it differently.

At Yale, the combination of Computer Science being one of the most popular majors and that same major now being in a precarious state of change means that you need to try something else — but within the same playing field. This is why we recommend selecting instead of simply picking Computer Science.

As a prospective Computer Science and Psychology major, you need to be a standout across the STEM and humanities fields (which Yale expects anyways, but extra). This major also aligns well with future careers in, or intersecting with, artificial intelligence and cognitive science. So, build things. Have exceptional grades, strong extracurriculars, great relationships with your teachers, and build something.

Another thing to take note of when considering your Yale application strategy is the gender breakdown for major categories. as many women as men majored in computer science in 2025, for example. , the number of men and women majoring in History is about equal, but the number of women majoring in English is twice that of men. If you are a guy interested in computer science, selecting Computer Science and Psychology as your prospective major can cause the admissions officials to give your application an extra close look.  

Instead of Molecular, Cellular, & Developmental Biology, do Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Molecular, Cellular, & Developmental Biology () is the fifth most popular major at Yale, and is particularly popular with students aiming for medical school. Students who want to go into medicine are often sure of their path quite young — long before even applying to college — although the particular field within medicine may be something they are still figuring out. MCDB offers top-tier students the opportunity to explore the framework for life in a way that is open to opportunities while still shooting for the best (i.e., most prestigious, and well-paying) outcomes.

That’s all great, but this major is also the most obvious one to pick if you are an applicant interested in medicine and emphasizing that interest in your application. That means Yale is flooded with applications from aspiring MDs who all pick MCDB as their prospective major.

Because of this heavy demand for MCDB among first-year applicants, we suggest looking at the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology major as another option — at least for putting on your application. also aims students directly at medical, pharmaceutical, or veterinary school, but the “ecology” part of the name tends to throw first-year applicants. The best news about this switch is that it really doesn’t require any leg work beyond selecting a different major on your application if you have been putting in the time to emphasize your interest in medicine or another related field.

If you are dead set on picking one of the top five majors and emphasizing it in your application as a prospective area of study, know that you are making the mountain steeper for yourself. Getting into Yale is hard enough when you use a strong strategy to give yourself a boost. If you don’t use the tools available to you, like picking the right major for you and for your application, you are basically turning a steep climb into a cliff. It goes from tough to nearly impossible.

Every year we help students get into their dream schools by using strong and personalized strategies and exceptional writing. Picking the right major for you is a key piece of the puzzle, especially when applying to Yale. 

Getting into Yale takes more than a strong transcript. Contact us to Learn more.

That realization happens more often than people think. Some students arrive on campus and quickly feel that the academic environment isn’t quite right. Others finish the admissions cycle with a lingering sense that they didn’t aim high enough or didn’t present themselves as strongly as they could have.

At TKG, we actually see the transfer path as a powerful opportunity when approached strategically. We’ve guided many students through successful transfer applications, and we understand both the strategy involved and the emotions that come with wanting a second chance.

But if Columbia is your target, it’s important to approach the process with a clear strategy. Transfer admissions are extremely competitive, and what you do during your freshman year will largely determine whether your application stands out.

Columbia Transfer Stats

Let’s start with the reality check.

Columbia accepts transfer students every year, but the number of available spots is limited. A large pool of applicants competes for a relatively small number of seats, usually resulting in an acceptance rate in the low single digits.

Columbia doesn’t fill out the CDS (annoying), but we know from history and that they “typically admit fewer than 10 percent of the applicants for transfer admission each year.”

So we know that Columbia actively enrolls transfer students every year. The admissions office expects to add a group of students who began their college careers somewhere else and proved themselves along the way – the question isn’t whether transfers happen, it’s how do those transfers happen?

And that answer usually comes down to how you spend your freshman year.

Choosing The Right College

Your transfer application begins long before you submit anything. By May 1st, specifically.

Where you choose to attend as a freshman will shape the academic record, experiences, and opportunities you ultimately present to Columbia. Ideally, you’ll have several schools to choose from, but even if your options feel limited, you can still make strategic decisions.

Ask yourself three questions:

Does this college support what you want to study?

College is, first and foremost, school. You’re there to learn. If you’re considering transferring to Columbia, you should enroll somewhere that allows you to pursue challenging coursework and explore subjects that genuinely interest you.

This isn’t the year to coast through easy classes or ignore academics. Columbia values intellectual curiosity, and your transcript should reflect that.

If you’re still deciding what you want to study, that’s fine, but you should start figuring it out. For the undeclared, the goal is simply to begin exploring areas that interest you and demonstrate genuine academic engagement.

Does this college offer opportunities beyond the classroom?

Classes are important, but admissions officers also want to see how students spend their time outside of them. Research opportunities, student publications, community engagement, leadership roles, and campus organizations can all become meaningful parts of your application. These experiences also help you build a life at your current school – something that matters regardless of what happens with your transfer plans.

Could you stay here if you had to?

And be honest with yourself!

Transferring to a highly selective university like Columbia is difficult. You can be perfect on paper, and they just simply aren’t taking any transfers that year. That’s just how it shakes out.

Before enrolling anywhere, ask yourself honestly whether you could still build a fulfilling college experience there if transferring doesn’t work out. If the answer is yes, great. We can continue.

Reassess Your First Year Applications

Before starting on your transfer apps, revisit your original applications – especially if you didn’t get into the schools you wanted. Why didn’t the first round produce the results you wanted?

Maybe your essays didn’t clearly communicate your interests. Maybe your extracurriculars lacked a cohesive theme. Maybe you applied to extremely competitive programs without the academic background or extracurriculars to support them. Whatever the issue was, identifying it now is important. The transfer process gives you another opportunity – but only if you approach it differently.

There’s also one important reality many students forget (or hope isn’t true), and that’s that your high school record still matters. A lot.  Admissions officers will review your high school transcript, testing, and coursework alongside your college performance. Strong freshman-year grades can strengthen your profile, but they won’t erase a bad high school GPA.

Understand the Expectations

Columbia’s academic expectations are extremely high.

Columbia expects exceptional grades, rigorous coursework, and strong standardized test scores from all applicants, transfers too. In practical terms, that means your freshman-year transcript should be outstanding. According to them, anything under a 3.5 college GPA is a non-starter.

Once you begin college, academics should become your primary focus. Whether you’re attending a flagship public university, a private college, or a community college, strong performance in demanding coursework signals that you can thrive in Columbia’s academic environment.

Enroll in the Right Classes

Your schedule should demonstrate both rigor and intellectual direction. Ideally, you’ll balance required courses with classes related to subjects you may want to pursue more deeply.

If you’re still exploring possible majors, electives can be extremely helpful. Many universities offer flexible distribution requirements that allow students to experiment with different disciplines while still making progress toward graduation. Now remember, one thing that makes Columbia distinct is its Core Curriculum.

Every undergraduate at Columbia College works through a shared set of foundational courses covering literature, philosophy, history, art, and science. These classes, like Literature Humanities and Contemporary Civilization, are designed to create a common intellectual experience across the student body. For transfer applicants, this matters more than you might expect.

Columbia is looking for students who are excited about engaging deeply with big ideas, especially in the humanities, which means the admissions committee tends to favor students who show curiosity about the humanities and social sciences, even if they ultimately plan to major in something else.

If you’re considering transferring to Columbia, your freshman year should reflect that intellectual openness. Taking a mix of classes, perhaps a philosophy class alongside your primary academic interests, can demonstrate the kind of interdisciplinary curiosity that fits well with Columbia’s academic culture.

We also often recommend pushing slightly beyond the standard course load – assuming you can handle it. At many colleges, the typical semester includes around 15–16 credits. Taking an additional class can demonstrate that you can handle Columbia’s intense environment. And if the workload becomes overwhelming early in the semester, the add/drop period gives you the flexibility to adjust.

Develop Your Extracurriculars

Extracurricular involvement looks different for transfer applicants. Admissions officers are less interested in long lists of activities and more interested in how you actually spent your time during college.

Unless you did something truly extraordinary in high school, that’s not going to be present on your apps this round. Now, your college involvement becomes the focus. That might include joining academic clubs, conducting research, writing for a campus publication, participating in student government, volunteering in your community, or launching your own initiative.

What matters most is that you actually get active in your activities.

Get Involved!

You can sign up for clubs all the live long day, but you actually need to participate in activities for it to be meaningful.  Choose a few activities that genuinely interest you and invest time in them. Some may connect directly to your academic interests, while others might simply be hobbies or passions.

Both are valuable because participation serves two important purposes. First, it helps you build community at your current college. Second, it gives you meaningful experiences you can discuss in your application.

Also, from us to you, please go to office hours. You’ll need recommendation letters when applying as a transfer, and those letters are strongest when they come from professors who know you personally. Relationships like that often begin with office hours. So go, please, we beg you.

Make a Smart List

Transfer admissions can be unpredictable, and relying entirely on one outcome rarely makes sense. Don’t pin all your hopes and dreams to Columbia.

At TKG, we’re risk-averse, so we encourage students to build balanced transfer lists that include several strong universities where they could realistically see themselves thriving.

Some schools that often make sense on transfer lists include Michigan, NYU, Boston University, Northeastern, Notre Dame, Tulane, UNC Chapel Hill, USC, UT Austin, UVA, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Wesleyan, and several universities within the University of California system such as UCLA, Berkeley, and UCSD.

Diversify your list! It’ll help in the long run.

Write Great Transfer Essays

The essay portion of the transfer application is where you have the most control over how the schools see you. Columbia asks a lot of questions, ranging from personal interests and history to why you want to study what you want to study.

Let’s talk specifically about the only transfer-specific one. Transfer essays tend to be more focused than first-year essays. Instead of telling a broad story about your life, you’re explaining a pivot point - or why you want a change. You’re describing what you discovered during your first year of college and why Columbia offers opportunities your current institution doesn’t.

In your transfer essay, avoid criticizing your current college. Instead, frame your transfer as a search for opportunities, namedropping specific courses, professors, or academic environments that align with your goals. Most importantly, be specific. Columbia wants to understand exactly how its programs, faculty, and curriculum connect to what you want to study. You want to leave them with the impression that Columbia is the only place for you.

Conclusion

Transferring to Columbia is no easy feat. The number of seats is tiny, the applicant pool is stacked, and plenty of students with impressive credentials still end up staying where they are. That’s just the math of the situation.

However, there’s an upside. The preparation required for a strong Columbia transfer application (challenging coursework, meaningful involvement, strong relationships with professors, clear academic direction) is exactly the kind of work that improves your college experience anywhere.

If Columbia works out, fantastic. You’ll arrive with the momentum and academic maturity to make the most of what the university offers. If it doesn’t, you’ll still have built a strong intellectual foundation, developed meaningful experiences, and positioned yourself well for the opportunities ahead at your current school or elsewhere.

The transfer process can feel opaque, and the strategy behind it is rarely obvious from the outside. If Columbia is on your radar, it helps to approach the process with a clear plan rather than guesswork. And if you’d like help building that plan, we’d be happy to work with you. Reach out to get started.

Strategizing a transfer to an Ivy League school is challenging, and the transfer process itself can be daunting. Let us help you manage that process – reach out to us today to get started.